Like is it really true that if I got hurt in a country with universal healthcare that i could just… go to the hospital for free? Even take an ambulance? Like, no deductible or fee or anything? What about stuff like eye exams? Do people have to pay for glasses? What about wheelchairs? Prosthetics? Meals from the cafeteria while you’re in the hospital?
I know people all pay higher taxes to support the system, but does that really cover everything?
Comments
Yes.
A lot of countries do charge for medical services, but not like the US. For example, in Germany, you might have to make a payment to use an ambulance between 5 or €10. The total cost would be comparable to about €100. Whereas the US average ambulance fee is over $1000.
Even in countries where it’s not free, it’s usually way more affordable than healthcare in the United States.
Free at the point of use, absolutely.
Not free, but free at the point of use. In the UK we’ve paid for it already via taxes, but we are not charged extra when we need it. However, some things are excluded such as dental care (to a large extent) and eye care unless eye health is part of a wider health issue that is covered, such as diabetes. In addition, procedures and medicines must have already be cleared for use via a body that decides on thier value for money – if the science does not show they have the right value, then they are not offered as part of the state healthcare. That can mean some cutting edge treatments are excluded.
Yes. And if you are too sick to visit a clinic, you can ask a doctor to come to your house. For free.
…at the point of delivery. Yes.
Yes, but you pay for it through your taxes.
I live in Quebec, healthcare is free*. You walk in the hospital or clinic, show your healthcare card and you walk out without seeing any number at all. I don’t even see the bills, I don’t have to front a single dollar, it’s dealt on their side.
For glasses and dentist the lobby was strong so those are on private insurances with my employer. Eye doctor is not expensive to cover privately, dentist yeah kinda. Not every employer offers it and right now overall I pay 70$ every 2 weeks to cover everything that isnt covered publicly, but I maxed it out with the best options. I’m covered for the dentist, medecine and private healthcare at 90%.
We have a public insurance for medecine but it’s only 60% and if you have a private one by law you need to get out of the public insurance (only for meds ofc).
*Not really free though, i’m taxed 37.2%. I prefer to say we have public healthcare, not free.
Absolutely. America continues to sell the great lie that privatized health care is far superior than government sponsored care, as it benefits lawyers, insurance companies, and pharmaceuticals.
Some details (such as eye exams and dental) depend on where you are and the insurance you have
I’m in Vancouver so I could be taken to the hospital, treated then released without cost. (Ambulance would cost $50 CAD/$35 USD) I also can walk into a pharmacy and receive free birth control. I can also get a free referral from a GP to see a specialist. I can also enroll in free therapy programs.
However, my work benefits cover up to $150 per year for eye glasses, anything past that is on my own dime. Same with dental, 80% of the cost will be covered to a dollar limit per year, then I cover 100% of costs after the limit has been reached, then it resets every year.
NHS in Scotland and possibly soon England and Wales has all of that apart from glasses which you get par of them paid for only if you’re U-16 or on low income.
Free at point of use, yep. this is the case in the majority of countries.
Depends. There are often still a couple of fees you’ll have to pay.
I’m Swedish, so here’s how it works here:
A visit to the doctor at a health centre costs like 10-15 dollars. Once you’ve paid enough, like 200 dollars or so, every visit from that point will be free for a year. Same thing with medicine, but it’s 300 dollars.
Ambulance? Free. Surgery? Free. Stay at the hospital? You basically just pay for your stay there, which is like 10 dollars per day.
So it’s not entirely free, but it’s extremely subsidised by taxes. Then we have private options for those who want quicker health care, which you can pay for through insurance like in the US.
I live in a country with universal healthcare. Yeah, you can just go to the a public hospital and not be charged for anything. Stuff like eye exams and dentists can be free to, but usually take longer to get an appointment, so it is common to use private services for those, as they aren’t really expensive. If you are poor you can get glasses for free or really cheap through government programs. Things like wheelchairs or prosthetics are harder do get for free, but it is possible.
I pay for eye exams, glasses, dental care, and the vet. I have friends who take medications that are not covered as far as I know, like transgender hormones (I believe they’re covered only up to a certain age).
So far in my adult life (with no additional disability aids) I haven’t paid for anything else healthcare wise. We are issued a health card which is a little ID card with our photo like a driver’s license, and whether it’s a walk in clinic, family doctor, or ER you just give them that and that’s it. If the card is expired or lost, they may make you pay but in my experience if it hasn’t been expired for too long, they let it slide. The only time I didn’t have my card at the walk in clinic it was like $50 I think. I honestly don’t give a shit if I’m paying more in taxes for this and I don’t understand why anyone would rather have paid healthcare than our system.
Do you have to pay for ambulances??? I didn’t know about that
The wild part is, depending on your state of residence, the taxes aren’t that much higher to include universal healthcare that other countries offer.
In sweden they call it free Healthcare I guess, but we have a system where each visit is about 275kr, and if you visit often enough within a year and spend around 1800kr you get a free pass for the rest of the year.
Same with medicine, but on a separate charge, it’s around 2800kr. Then you get the “free healthcare benefit.”
Usually, the doctors appointment one you don’t go to the doctors enough unless diagnosed with something so that one isn’t always useful.
But the medicine is very useful. Note that it’s only for prescribed medicine, not things like regular painkillers, pharmaceuticals. But they keep increasing the limit to pay for it like this year again, which is ridiculous it’s already hard enough for the people who do need those medicines.
Anytime I’ve tried having a conversation with someone older about Universal Healthcare in other countries, I get the “well, my husband and I were stationed in England (or other countries) and those people had to wait forever to get an appointment (or surgeries, etc)”.
I need a good factual rebuttal.
In the UK we pay for dental work and eye glasses. Everything else is paid for from general taxation.
Median tax rates in the UK is around 23% whereas it’s around 15% in the USA. Part of that extra 8% gets you some of the best healthcare in the world – giving the UK a higher life expectancy and a lower rate of preventable deaths. And nobody here goes bankrupt just because they get sick or have an accident.
If you get hurt in Brazil while on a holiday, you still get service for free
UK calling. Almost all treatment is free at the point of use. Prosthetics, dialysis, heart transplant, physio, psychotherapy, ambulances, home adaptations (eg, if you’re disabled and need them, a hospital style bed, ramps, other accessibility equipment). Prescription drugs cost extra – not sure of the price now, as they’re free for over-60s, but around £10 per medicine – doesn’t matter if the medicine costs £20000 a dose, provided your doctor has prescribed it and the drug is approved for NHS prescriptions.
Dental, glasses and contact lenses and hearing aids are all charged for, though NHS dies subsidise essential (limited!) dental, and you can get crappy free glasses and hearing aids.
You can choose to pay private medical to accelerate treatment for some ops and physio, but even then the cost is nothing like the ruinous costs of somewhere like America.
Spaniard here. Every visit is free. Glasses and dentists are not. As for prescriptions, you pay a fraction of the price, depending on your income. But prescription drugs are dirty cheap, for example, I pay only 0.16€ per month for my blood pressure pills.
Am Canadian. Was diagnosed with bladder cancer last year. It was muscle invasive, so I had 4 rounds of chemo, then a six hour surgery to remove my bladder and prostate, and fasten a stoma through my stomach to pee through. I’ve had 2 TURBT procedures that involved 5 day hospital stays, and a post-operative infection also requiring a week in hospital. I’ve had two MRIs and a few CAT scans. The cost to me? Zero. It’s just the way it is.
The maximum i have paid in the ER was 30€ and it was from all the other times I was there before
Almost, we have a thing called high cost protection which places a limit on how much you pay for healthcare each year. Once you spend 1,100 Swedish Krona (SEK) or 100 USD on healthcare costs from January to December, högkostnadsskydd kicks in. It will then cover any additional costs for the rest of the year. This prevents big medical bills. Daily hospital fees are SEK 80/day, and an ambulance ride costs 150 SEK i.i.r.c. We get a bill in the mail.
I’m from France (arguably the best healthcare in the world) and yes, most of everything is free. Hospital stays (including meals) and ambulance rides are free, same with necessary equipments like wheelchairs and prosthetic. Depending on the equipment, and also for doctor visits, you may have to pay upfront and then get a refund automatically to your bank account. Doctor visits are 25-30 € so not a lot to pay upfront either way, but it gets refunded back to you. Glasses are free for children, but not for adults- though if you’re low income and they you might qualify for low or no cost glasses, and if you’re not, usually your work insurance (mutuelle) covers most of not all of it.
I live in Canada now and you don’t need to pay upfront for doctor visits, and most of the rules are the same, although things like medicine are not free, but mostly covered (at least partially) through work insurance. For example with my insurance I need to pay $3 for every prescription I get fulfilled, and the rest is covered no matter the amount. If I didn’t have insurance I might have to pay for the whole thing, but medicine is less expensive than in the US (but more expensive than in France).
I got surgery in both France and Canada and both time the entire thing start to finish was covered and I didn’t need to spend a dime.
Yes, in countries with universal healthcare, medical services are often either free or heavily subsidized, meaning that the cost is generally covered by taxes or other public funding.
In the UK part of the taxes that come out of every paycheque is National Insurance. This goes towards paying for the entire welfare state, including your pension, statutory sick pay and the NHS etc.
If I walk into a GP (primary care) or A&E (ER) no, I don’t pay anything; it’s not technically “free” because I pay for it through taxes, but it’s free at the point of use.
When I was in Taiwan I had an ER trip + procedure + meds + 2 day observation with an ambulance ride. If i were a citizen paying into their universal healthcare it would be practically free. But I wasn’t and so I had to pay cash price. 4000 NTD for everything.
… which is like $130 USD.
If that had happened in the US without insurance it would probably be more like $13,000 USD … probably more
In Spain, yes, it is free for most people, at point of service. It’s paid for with taxes. That doesn’t include glasses and dental, though. For immigrants, some of us are required to have private health insurance for at least a year when we arrive. It’s still incredibly cheap, and once I’ve paid my 75 euros a month, there are no additional copays and deductibles. Only prescriptions aren’t covered. But prescriptions here generally only cost a few euros for a month’s supply.
i went to the hospital in northern ireland and never saw a bill. im american.
In the UK most healthcare is free at point of use. Dental care can be free within a limited scope if you can find a. NHS dentist. Spectacles aren’t generally free, though are for children and help is available for those who are disadvantaged.
Meals for visitors to hospital ate paid for as is parking. But meals are provided for inpatients.
In Germany you pay part of your gross wage to your health insurance, usually around 16% right now. You also pay 10€ per day at the hospital and a copay of 5-10€ for most medications. You only need to pay 2% of your yearly gross pay, 1% if chronically ill, after that you do not pay more in copays. So it’s not really free free but you can go to the hospital when something is wrong and you can call an ambulance (which is supposed to arrive in like 10 minutes) if you have a real emergency.
The health insurance is not optional here, it’s nearly impossible to have none as long as you are in the system, not homeless for example.
There’s also private insurance which only makes sense when you either have a high wage or if you have certain jobs where it gets cheaper to pay it yourself instead of using the universal healthcare.
Yes, even USA is one of those places in some states if you qualify for Medicaid.
My Geisinger Family Health plan in PA is $0 a month and almost everything is covered for free, some things have a co-pay but it’s maximum $3
In france it is mostly free technically because we don’t pay directly, but we all collectively pay trough taxes.
And some treatment deemed “unnecessary” are stil paid by the user
I was on a trip to London with my dad; he miscalculated a the days and forgot about 4 days of pills he needs for various medical issues. We went to the hospital, got seen and he got 2 weeks worth of pills all for free.
Here in Canada, I broke my ankle and needed surgery 2 years ago. The ambulance was the only bill I ever got.
In Canada most basic eye stuff like glasses isn’t covered. But if you need eye surgery or something that is covered. I got a laser treatment done last year for something that could have caused blindness if it was left. I never saw any bill of any kind for the entire process aside from the initial exam which was $35 (would have been $70 if no issue was found but as it was gov paid half). Wait time for the surgery was 4 weeks (I had no discomfort or anything so there was no rush) and then another 4 weeks for a follow up.
I got really sick last month. An ambulance showed up in 10 minutes (very rural place, they must have been going fast). They gave me meds on the way to the hospital. Got a bed in emergency and a room to myself right away. Got a ton of tests done. I was there for about 5 hours waiting for tests and results but I was sick af anyways. Never saw any bill.
Dentistry is also not included in our healthcare and that sucks a lot. But the gov is working on changing that, it’s now free for children at least.
Our taxes are higher but waaaay less than Americans pay when you include health insurance and medicine prices.
So UK here, England specifically because some things are different in Scotland and Wales.
Yes, health care broadly is free at the point of use. Eyes and teeth don’t count in that (unless you’re under 18, on benefits, or some other things like certain disabilities will qualify you for NHS eye and teeth exams, basic glasses and reduced cost treatments for teeth issues). But you can go to a doctor, call an ambulance, or even get airlifted in a helicopter if needed, go to A&E (the ER) or use a walk-in clinic, and get all your diagnostics, treatments, hospital stays etc without having to pay specifically to use the service. My mum went through cancer last year, including a battery of scans, surgery, radiotherapy, follow up appointments etc and it didn’t cost us anything. If you’re staying in hospital, you get fed three meals a day, although the quality of food isn’t generally great, and if you have dietary requirements it can be challenging.
Basic medical devices such as wheelchairs or prosthetics are usually available on the NHS, although if they can afford it, people often go private because they can get better quality. Even temporary things like crutches, or the walking frame my dad needed when he broke his leg are free.
Prescriptions also cost, at just under £10 per item, although again, some people are exempt from those charges. Certain health conditions such as epilepsy or diabetes, receiving benefits, under 18s, etc get you an exemption or you can also get a prepay certificate where you pay x amount for a 3 or 12 month and get all your prescriptions in that time without paying per item. I Scotland, prescriptions are also free.
The NHS isn’t perfect. There are sometimes long waiting times for specialist appointments, surgical procedures, or other non-emergency treatment. And these can vary wildly across the country. Getting an non-emergency appointment with your GP (General Practitioner, your family doctor) can be difficult in some areas.
But I am a staunch defender of the NHS and the good it does.
Yes, the NHS is funded through taxes. But the tax rate really isn’t that high. Somebody earning £50k a year would end up with a take home of £39.5k before any personal pension contributions. That 10.5k covers income tax and national insurance (which qualifies you for State Pension). Compare that to the fact that the average cost of health insurance in the US is nearly $8500 a year for a single person, and that doesn’t even cover everything, I think we’re getting a pretty good deal.
Yup. Basically every other developed nation on the planet has healthcare paid for by the system rather than individuals being overcharged. They often find the US system exploitative and barbaric, despite decent quality of care. In the US, hospitals charge people without insurance thousands more for the same care, even though the uninsured tend to be the poorest among us.
Multiple studies found universal healthcare in the US would pay for itself fairly quickly, and would eliminate medical bankruptcy in this country. Sadly, lobbyists have far too much power here, and the current system makes some people too much money.
Yea, have a family member who was sick in hospital (ICU) for almost a year, got physio and access to specialists, and all treatment was free.
The caveat though is dental, eye care, and pharmacy meds aren’t and access to get a family doctor has very long wait times. There’s a ton they need to fix here so not a perfect system but it is definitely a life saver to know that you won’t walk out bankrupt.
Well paid for by taxes
In Sweden I recently developed pneumonia together with a nasty flu.
With doctors visits and calling nurses and medicine it costs me a total of 40 ish dollars.
30 for the visit to doctor, talking to nurse was free. Penicillin and prescription cough medicine was total 10 dollars together.
Yes. UK here, we pay for national insurance like a tax. I pay nothing for any treatment. If I need a prescription the max I pay is about £10 per drug. America is fu*ked up
I was in France and hurt my knee snowboarding.
I walked in and out of the doctors without paying.
Shocked!
I’m American.
Yes in the UK. It’s obviously paid with via taxes but it’s all free when you actually use it.
Ambulance free, doctors appointment free, meds free (or £13.50 per med though it’s context dependent), follow up care free, giving birth free, abortions free, hospital parking free (in Wales), meals if a patient free, wheelchair free etc.
Oddly teeth aren’t. It’s not that expensive, big works hundreds, but not thousands.
South Africa. I have COPD and ended up with a fungal infection in my lungs. 12 days in hospital, 3 ambulance trips (1 to the nearest hospital, then another to ICU in a different hospital then one back to the original hospital once I was out of ICU) I was on a ventilator for 5 days in an induced coma. Cost to myself was R60 ($3)
This is sad.
Yes, it’s free. If you go to the hospital yourself through the emergency room, you might pay the ticket, but that’s like 5€ or something.
Eye exams are free, glasses aren’t.
Don’t know about prosthetics, but I’m pretty sure wheelchairs are free, too.
Yes, meals are also free, and it’s not a cafeteria like in a school. They will bring your food to you.
It’s not perfect here in New Zealand (and I’m sure one of our little political parties has a dream to dismantle it (unfortunately, they have some power here)), but if you have an issue, depending on the seriousness of, it will be taken care of without costing you. The ambulance service is a charity so it does send a small bill for medical issues that are not accidents—we have a no-faults accident compensation scheme that covers it—even then, it’s not the full cost of the ambulance cost.
I’m from Manitoba, Canada. For us we have healthcare numbers on healthcare cards (the new ones look amazing look them up). This number is given as our “insurance” when going to a doctor or hospital, and as of today iirc a number of medications if prescribed at no direct cost to us (we pay for it through taxes personal/sales/sin tax/etc). We do have to pay for ambulances, but they are very reasonable in terms of cost and while I’ve never needed one myself I’m fairly certain you can claim it as a health expense at the end of the year on your taxes and get all or part of it back. Dental care is also coming for those that aren’t insured later this year iirc as well.
New Zealand here – nothing is free. It is paid for by our taxes and while mostly “free” at point of payment some items carry a charge or services can be expedited for a charge. You can still choose to buy private health insurance if you like for a more premium experience.
Examples of services…
Doctors visit – I pay about $30 per visit, my son is free I think until he’s 18. Medications range from free to unfunded. A lot of the “main stream” or high use stuff is low cost and if you’re a frequent flier or low earner your prescriptions can be subsidised to a small amount per purchase. Think single digit dollars.
Having a baby – it cost us parking and snacks… we also paid extra to expedite our dating scan as we had lost a couple and we were nervous. We could have chosen to pay a specialist midwife, we went with the local free service and ended up rushed to hospital via ambulance. All in all well cared for despite having complications at no real cost.
Break a bone – hospital is free, if you go to doctor you may pay for an Xray. My wife broke her toe recently, I think the X-ray was around $25 and docs was $30. As part of that cost her doctor wrote her off work and she got paid “sick leave”.
Had she been off work longer than 2 weeks she would have received “ACC” which is like a mandatory income protection insurance for workplace injuries provided from our taxes. This would have paid her approx 80% of her normal wage until healed and also covered things like physio costs if she required them to return to work fully healed.
As with anything your mileage may vary, it’s not free as it’s paid for from taxes we all pay but the odds of you simple dying because you cannot afford treatment largely don’t exist. The large caveat on that would be newer, experimental or very low demand drugs may not be funded and could be hideously expensive still. This is not the norm however.
It’s free in the moment, however it is funded through taxes.
You can always tell someone from the USA.
I’m just back from two trips last week to the ER in NZ. I had intense pain radiating from my kidney to my groin.
First time, I presented to the nurse at the ER reception, got asked a few questions about my complaint and my identity. A few minutes later I had a hospital band around my wrist. An hour later I was talking to the doctor, got given a script for pain medication and antibiotics. I left after around six hours, got my prescription filled, went home. Total cost: $20 for parking. No other invoice was presented to me. I also got a three day sick note and let my work know I wouldn’t be in the rest of the week. I got told to rest and look after myself and my 20 days’ annual sick leave allowance got a little less.
Three days later the pain returned. I went back to the ER, again a quick triage. While waiting to see the Dr, I became nauseous, threw up into a paper cup, got sent to an ER bed, hooked up to a machine that went Bing. Got given pain medication, including IV fentanyl (I had asked for something quicker acting than the pills I’d been given), and shortly after a CT scan. The Dr came to see me, diagnosed with a kidney stone. They put me into observation for a few hours where I got fed lunch, and later that day I got sent home. Total cost: $0, as my sister dropped me off to the ER and collected me after. Again, no paperwork mentioning money.
I have a Dr appointment with my own Dr today, that will cost me $65 as they are a private practice and the government subsidises the fee but doesn’t completely cover it.
Any prescriptions I get are usually free or at least partially funded.
My wife has stage 4 cancer. She is currently receiving free chemo therapy (and free parking too).
In NZ we also have no-fault universal accident insurance (ACC). I blew my knee apart in a skiing accident 20 years ago. I got carted off the mountain, helivac to hospital 45 minutes away, bone graft and reconstruction surgery, all the physio, in-home support, 80% income protection, all paid by ACC. Again, no invoices. When I need a prosthetic knee that will be free too.
Welcome to socialised medicine.
Nothing is free. Everything has trade offs.
Health care is not free anywhere it’s just paid for in a different way.
In the U.K. our taxes cover most things except dental,the waiting times can be years so people can opt to pay privately
Portuguese here. ER visits are very cheap, or free if you’re considered poor. The fact that you guys have to pay for an ambulance in the US still blows my mind.
Our healthcare system works pretty well if you have a serious problem. Getting appointments with specialist doctors though, you’ll be waiting for a long time (although those are also very cheap or free).
Dentists are not included, and neither are glasses (I believe both should, though).
It’s not free though, our taxes are a lot higher to pay for all this, money doesn’t come from trees. Taxes in the US are insanely low compared to pretty much anywhere in the EU.
>Like is it really true that if I got hurt in a country with universal healthcare that i could just… go to the hospital for free? Even take an ambulance? Like, no deductible or fee or anything?
If you are not a legal resident of the country, nor from a country whose UHC system has reciprocal arrangements with the country, you may get charged. Charges will be far less than in the US even if you are in a country with a higher cost of living. Some countries will cover you for free for emergencies that arise while you are visiting.
>What about stuff like eye exams? Do people have to pay for glasses? What about wheelchairs? Prosthetics? Meals from the cafeteria while you’re in the hospital?
You generally get basic glasses. You can pay for fancy ones if you want designer glasses. The rest is covered.
>I know people all pay higher taxes to support the system, but does that really cover everything?
No, all these systems are much cheaper in taxes than what the US is currently doing, most of them enormously so. The US is the country where people pay the most in tax per capita for public healthcare.
For most of these systems the difference amounts to multiple times what Americans pay in tax for their military.
UK here, Northern Ireland.
“Like is it really true that if I got hurt in a country with universal healthcare that i could just… go to the hospital for free?”
Yes.
“Even take an ambulance?”
Yes.
“Like, no deductible or fee or anything?”
Yes.
“What about stuff like eye exams?”
No, but if you’re unemployed or on certain other benefits, Yes. Or certain diseases, like my diabetes has an extra special eye exam plus the regular one, free.
” Do people have to pay for glasses?”
Same applies as above.
“What about wheelchairs?”
Yes.
“Prosthetics?”
I’d assume so, not sure if there might be a delay.
“Meals from the cafeteria while you’re in the hospital?”
Yes. But you might have to pay for TV on the device beside your bed. Honestly, just bring a tablet.
Add in free doc vistis, outpatient care, social care, and medications. Free.
Paid for in taxes, so we don’t even notice it. Overall, we spend less in healthcare per capita, with better outcomes.
I’m Australian and so far we still have a pretty good healthcare system.
We used to have free GP visits but now have to pay a smallish fee.
Ambulance rides are no longer free but if you pay for ambo insurance it’s something like $140 a year.
A lot of specialist visits are subsidised but are no longer as well subsidised as they used to be.
If you’re under a certain income bracket you receive $1k toward children’s dental work (general stuff like cleans, fillings, X-rays). Dental work for adults isn’t free but if you’re low income you can put your name on a list for a public dentist though you’ll be waiting a while.
A hospital stay is generally free but there might be some incurred costs with medication? I’m not sure about that. I had to stay in the hospital with my toddler son a year ago as he’d hurt his hip and wasn’t able to bare his own weight. We were in for 4 nights, he had 4 X-rays and other tests. All food for him was free also. No cost to us other than my own food.
Eye tests are free everything else is at cost to consumer unless you have private health insurance and then I think there you still have a bit to contribute.
“Like is it really true that if I got hurt in a country with universal healthcare that i could just… go to the hospital for free?” Well, not exactly. I have that in Canada because I’m a citizen and haven’t been away for any great length of time. I have a government issued health care that covers most of my needs. As a visitor you don’t have that. Hopefully you take care to take out travel insurance anytime you leave your country.
I live in Canada and I’m a Sahm. I literally bring in 0$. I can go to the doctor’s and not pay a single penny.
I have had 7 Operations in my homecountry invluding a 6 hour head operations and my family paid 0 euros for all 7 of them.
It’s not “free”, it’s paid with your tax money. However, the taxes that you pay are not even close to what an insurance premium is in the US. I’ve heard people in the U.S. can pay up to $600 a month for insurance that only covers a percent of it, sometimes if at all. To answer your question, you get Healthcare and no bill. It’s amazing what can be done when corporations are taxed as well as the population.
In England, you pay National Insurance which is deducted from your pay every month but it’s not much. You don’t pay for gp appointments, or if you go to a&e, you don’t pay if you get referred to a specialist or if you have physiotherapy or an operation or any treatment. You pay for your prescriptions but some people get it for free e.g. children, people on benefits etc. You have to pay for eye tests but again children and people on certain benefits get it for free. Also most jobs will give you free eye test vouchers if you use computers at all. If you’re in the hospital for a few days, you don’t pay extra for anything, your meals, room, medication are all free.
I only have to pay for parking at the hospital. My doctor is 100% free. I have to pay for eye exams, but my kids do not, I have to buy my glasses. I have to pay for meals at the hospital and wheelchairs and prosthetics (but there are government programs to help with that).
I’m in the highest tax bracket in my country. I don’t regret it at all.
I got so sick from COVID I wound up in hospital in Canada. I had provincial health cover (free) – I was here working, not a tourist. They gave me a bag of groceries and new pants on the way out. Meals. Fluids. $0.
In Australia I got put into hospital after being really unwell for weeks. Undiagnosed type 1 diabetes, oops. I was in emergency overnight then on the wards for a few days. Meals. Fluids. $0.
edit: Insulin in Australia is like $25 for 5 boxes, a little more in Canada.
Canada, I can see a doctor for free, but they charge for lots of things beyond the most simple stuff like prescriptions etc. In Australia, I can see a bulk-billing doctor for free, or pay $$ to see a doctor and then get a rebate from the government (immediately, to my card), which lowers to overall price. Paying for a doctor is usually a nicer experience, but isn’t so expensive that it’s a luxury.
Glasses, dental etc, thats ‘extended health’ in both places, and you either pay for insurance coverage that gives you yearly access/dollar amounts to these services/products, or you pay for them as you need them.
I’m Canadian. I’ve had multiple surgeries, such as knee replacement, hiatal hernia repair, carpal tunnel surgery x 2, plus other minor surgeries, but I’ve never paid for more than parking fees at the hospital.
Yes, healthcare is publicly paid for in civilized countries. Even if you go to another country, your care will cost less because every level of our healthcare system is inflated due to Capitalism.
In New Zealand most healthcare is either relatively low cost or free. Doctors visits are normally $60 or less if low income, a child etc. most prescriptions are like $5-15. Anything hospital related is free. An ambulance cost depends on the situation but I think maximum $100. Not sure about wheelchairs.
You do pay for glasses, hearing aids, dental but there is some degree of funding available in certain circumstances.
As i understand it in NZ.
If I broke my leg, the ambulance costs are $98 in my area. $980 for tourists.
The hospital stay would be free and surgery to reattach any tendons.
Pain meds would be free or very cheap. I’d probably have to pay for crutches.
Dental and eye exams are not free. I pay for glasses.
Halifax nova scotia canada, be me at the skatepark in about 2008. Air the bowl to high and come down on ankle and break it, walk next door to hospital, get room and xrays and a cast and the only thing i had to pay for was moms parking and extra for a game system.
It is real and it doesnt have to be like what we have currently in the states. Biggest concern outside of fascism and apaic control is lack of healthcare that is affordable insured or not
Canadian here.
Hospitals, doctors, specialists, most tests like x rays and blood tests etc., are free.
Rx is free if you’re under 25 in Ontario.
Dental is free if you make under 90k/yr, but there’s more parts to that I don’t understand as I don’t qualify for it.
Ambulance has a fee, I think it’s like 120 bucks?
Vision is not free.
For Rx, Vision, and Dental, all my stuff is free because I have a private insurance plan for non Ohip related things, through my husband’s employer.
The last thing we paid for was like… 460 bucks for a APAP machine for my husband’s sleep apnea.
The total cost for the machine, masks and tubing would have been around 2k but OHIP covered a bunch and private insurance covered a bunch and we paid the rest.
We will claim that medical expense on our taxes next year and get about 30% of it back.
Oh, storytime!
I was abroad with my ex once in Frankfurt (I’m American, She was from the middle east) and during our eurotrip my ex got a nasty eye infection. Frankfurt was a short stop but the infection got so bad it began to effect her eyesight so we googled around for a hospital. What would typically take hours if not potentially days in the US took about 45 minutes. We went, they got our information, we sat, they called us… looked at it, gave us some antibiotic (that worked WONDERS) and were like “oh, please go to the building on the other end of the hospital campus to pay for your visitation fee”.
First of all we were like “wait, we could essentially just leave and not pay if we wanted?” (which we didn’t do obviously) and when we got to the building to pay we thought it was going to be a somewhat pricey bill. It was 20 euros and they sent us on our way.
So… maybe it’s not ENTIRELY free, but god damn close to it
I’m currently in Australia, and where I live in Victoria, as I can’t work, my healthcare is mostly covered. There are some niche situations where I would have to upfront some costs, like on special tests, and usually it’s only $50-$200. If I was still living in the states in Texas, I’d be paying like $3500 just for the ambulance ride. I’ve got epilepsy and I usually end up with at least one ambo checkup on me a year, so I’m VERY grateful with how frequent my seizures in inconvenient places are, that I’m not having to pay hundreds if not thousands every time I have a medical issue. Seeing a general practitioner is free apart from gap fee for $50 for me every year, my epilepsy scripts are free to get and cheap to purchase, and I know if I was still living in Texas, I’d surely be bankrupt with my current health conditions 🤣
appreciate you, Australia ❤️🙏🏼
I only pay for prescriptions but even then my insurance covers 90 percent of it. I believe in some cases you pay for ambulances as well, like 500 bucks or so. Canadian here.
In Australia, broadly speaking: Yes, the hospital is free. In a couple of states the ambulance is free too.
So let’s say you break your leg trying to do some viral social media challenge. Ambulance shows up (free, if you’re in my state), takes you to hospital (again, free), where the triage staff will triage you (again, free), provide some pain relief if needed (free) and then get you X-rayed (free), before a doctor verifies that yes, that leg is broken (free) and then they put a cast on your leg (also: free), before sending you on your way with a return appointment in a week or two to check how things are healing, usually each fortnight until your leg is healed (no cost for those appointments). Now, if the doctor has prescribed painkillers or antibiotics for you to take at home, you’ll have to pay for those, but since we have a thing called the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, those medicines will cost at most AUD$31.60 each, and if you’re on social welfare etc, then AUD$7.70 each.
Medicines administered in the hospital are free (ie, if they need to shoot you full of painkillers because your leg is so epically broken, you don’t pay for that medicine).
I’ve had family members have major surgeries and extended hospital stays and the only “out of pocket” costs for us were car parking and food we bought from the hospital food court (meals for the patients, which came from the hospital kitchen, were free).
Obviously the system isn’t perfect, and our mental health care system needs a lot of work, but broadly speaking, in my experiences here: Yes, the public hospital is completely free and no, we don’t have major issues with people using ambulances as free taxis (although it does happen sometimes).
Theoretically visiting a GP (general practitioner) is supposed to be free via a system known as Bulk Billing, but the reimbursement rate for that stopped being worthwhile a decade or so ago and generally, unless you’re a child or on social welfare payments, you’ll likely have to pay – somewhere around AUD$70, but it varies – to see a GP.
The other thing to keep in mind: Our public health system might be free, but it isn’t necessarily fast. We do have private hospitals and clinics which aren’t free but are a lot faster than the public system, especially for surgeries etc.
You know those taxes people don’t like to pay… yeah that’s what they go towards, in other places. But they are sometimes taxed a bit more too
In Brazil everything you medically need is free, but you can be in a waitlist for months, so people who can afford it opt for private health insurance and such, and good jobs also tend to offer good health insurance.
And no one would consider charging a person for an ambulance ride during an emergency, that’s completely insane.