4 ms·
Germany is two-tier. Public health for the masses, private for those making over 80k or so and healthy. The public system premiums are a % of income. The priva
by ballenf 9y ago
Germany is two-tier. Public health for the masses, private for those making over 80k or so and healthy.
The public system premiums are a % of income. The private is a flat cost, so as you make more become much more attractive (even costing less in many cases).
Doctors are sometimes private only or have separate private insurance waiting rooms. Hospitals have separate public and private rooms/beds, etc.
It's a two-tier system that works pretty well, at least in comparison to the US system.
My info is a few years dated, but is based on having been a patient in both US and German hospitals. From friends, I've heard the English system is similar in some respects to the German.
Amazingly to me, the German system was instituted under Otto von Bismark in the 1800s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_healthcare_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_healthcare_in_Germ...
- TheCoelacanth 9y agoAren't the public premiums only a % of income up to a certain cap? So it's not like super high income people would pay an outrageously huge amount to use the public system, they would just potentially pay somewhat more than they would if they got private insurance.
- maxxxxx 9y agoCorrect.