4 ms·

Most of the time I restrict myself from this kind of comments, but here is what experience is typically like in Russia. You are sick or even probably sick, lik

Most of the time I restrict myself from this kind of comments, but here is what experience is typically like in Russia. You are sick or even probably sick, like biten by tick and worry about it is infectious. You go to the neatest hospital, local ER, register yourself (no documents needed). Any time of day. You get triaged immediately, if your situation is not life-threatening, there is a queue. Waiting times are anywhere between nothing and two hours. Doctor sees you, you get medication, procedures, tests as needed. Everything is typically done in professional manner, quick and no bullshit. There are sometimes signs hospital is understaffed, like single nurse doing everything. In Moscow, treatment is world-class. In rest of Russia, your milage may vary. You typically leave diagnosed, fixed, with documents. Nobody ever asks you about payments or bills. What bills? The state-provided health care is free

OJFord 5y ago
Same in the UK (except the hospital probably is understaffed!) - it's weird for me to think of a hospital as somewhere you might go to pay for a service, like Tight muscles? Go there, pay the masseuse; Bone sticking out? Go there, pay the doctor.
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>In Moscow, treatment is world-class. Is this true in the public system as well? I'm asking since in Romania the public hospitals are still more miss than hit, even in big cities. Hospital managers are politically appointed leading to terrible corruption and inefficiencies, meaning waiting times can be pretty long so the doctors who work there refer you to their private practices, and while conditions on the surface look good and everything is covered by the public insurance in theory, sometimes hospitals are short on supplies, asking you or your relatives to bring stuff from home, the food can be terrible, and you never know what corners some staff might have cut and you end up picking some dangerous hospital transmitted bacteria leaving you worse off than when you came in. And sometimes, if you're unlucky, you can end up in healthcare hell where you get bounced around between different hospitals if each judges you're not their problem to deal with. Outside of big cities, you don't even want to go near any public hospital unless your situation is serious. When my mom was admitted to the local hospital for infectious diseases around 2008ish, there were roaches and rats everywhere and this was in a big medical university city of the country. Pretty sure the roaches and rats are gone nowadays, but still that was unacceptable.
- hamilyon2 5y ago
  Yes, in Moscow public medicine gets better every year. If you want to be operated, an MRI, or some expensive procedure, waiting queue might be quite a bit longer than that in commercial sector. Military-serving hospitals are particularly good. There are certain cases of narrow specialists, where commercial medicine is actually worse than that is found in high-prestige public institutions. I am speaking of Moscow and maybe few other big cities.
superfunny 5y ago
"The state-provided health care is free" Today I learned that doctors and nurses in Russia work for nothing. No? So where does the money to pay them come from?
- pietrovismara 5y ago
  Public money, that as you might know comes from a variety of sources, including taxes. But to say some taxpayer is paying your "free" treatments is a grotesque simplification.
  - vadfa 5y ago
    That means higher taxes, which are undesirable for some.
    - pietrovismara 5y ago
      Then, as someone who doesn't own property, why should I pay taxes that go in police funding just to protect your property? That means higher taxes which is very undesirable for someone who's already near poverty.
- throw0101a 5y ago
  Never fails: > Every time someone talks about free this or that in the Nordic countries an American will pop his head up and yell "It's paid for with your taxes" without fail. * https://satwcomic.com/every-time https://satwcomic.com/every-time
- mdp2021 5y ago
  "Mutual assistance" I believe is the concept.
mabbo 5y ago
This is the same in Canada. My wife is due to give birth in 3 months. The biggest bill we're concerned about is the parking lot. I think it's $20/day. And if the parking fee was too much, I've heard that one can go talk to the reception desk and they'll open the gate for you. I would rather pay very slightly higher taxes and let all of my fellow Canadians have this benefit than be very sightly richer and live in a society that doesn't have this.
- xtracto 5y ago
  Exactly! For me it is the peace of mind: not having to worry about deductibles... will it be covered? What hospital can I go to? Ambulance or uber... so much stress. On top of your ailment. I prefer to pay 35-40% in taxes and not have to worry about that. I worry about my work and my systems. They pay me for that. I pay my money so that I dont have to worry. Paying (a private insurer) to get additional worries? No thanks.
  - mabbo 5y ago
    > I pay my money so that I dont have to worry My view on money it that the purpose of money is to solve problems. My goal is not to have more money, it's to have less problems. I live in a country where I do not ever have to think about how I will pay for my healthcare, which would be an enormous problem to have.
  - herval 5y ago
    > I prefer to pay 35-40% in taxes and not have to worry about that The biggest irony is that’s in line with the taxes we pay in the US (probably more if you’re in tech and live in CA or NY), so it’s not like you pay lower taxes in the Land of the Free anyway.
    - xboxnolifes 5y ago
      Truly hard to say without knowing the commenter's income. I know that's significantly higher than my effective tax rate.

OJFord 5y ago

Same in the UK (except the hospital probably is understaffed!) - it's weird for me to think of a hospital as somewhere you might go to pay for a service, like Tight muscles? Go there, pay the masseuse; Bone sticking out? Go there, pay the doctor.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

>In Moscow, treatment is world-class. Is this true in the public system as well? I'm asking since in Romania the public hospitals are still more miss than hit, even in big cities. Hospital managers are politically appointed leading to terrible corruption and inefficiencies, meaning waiting times can be pretty long so the doctors who work there refer you to their private practices, and while conditions on the surface look good and everything is covered by the public insurance in theory, sometimes hospitals are short on supplies, asking you or your relatives to bring stuff from home, the food can be terrible, and you never know what corners some staff might have cut and you end up picking some dangerous hospital transmitted bacteria leaving you worse off than when you came in. And sometimes, if you're unlucky, you can end up in healthcare hell where you get bounced around between different hospitals if each judges you're not their problem to deal with. Outside of big cities, you don't even want to go near any public hospital unless your situation is serious. When my mom was admitted to the local hospital for infectious diseases around 2008ish, there were roaches and rats everywhere and this was in a big medical university city of the country. Pretty sure the roaches and rats are gone nowadays, but still that was unacceptable.

hamilyon2 5y ago
Yes, in Moscow public medicine gets better every year. If you want to be operated, an MRI, or some expensive procedure, waiting queue might be quite a bit longer than that in commercial sector. Military-serving hospitals are particularly good. There are certain cases of narrow specialists, where commercial medicine is actually worse than that is found in high-prestige public institutions. I am speaking of Moscow and maybe few other big cities.

superfunny 5y ago

"The state-provided health care is free" Today I learned that doctors and nurses in Russia work for nothing. No? So where does the money to pay them come from?

pietrovismara 5y ago
Public money, that as you might know comes from a variety of sources, including taxes. But to say some taxpayer is paying your "free" treatments is a grotesque simplification.
- vadfa 5y ago
  That means higher taxes, which are undesirable for some.
  - pietrovismara 5y ago
    Then, as someone who doesn't own property, why should I pay taxes that go in police funding just to protect your property? That means higher taxes which is very undesirable for someone who's already near poverty.
throw0101a 5y ago
Never fails: > Every time someone talks about free this or that in the Nordic countries an American will pop his head up and yell "It's paid for with your taxes" without fail. * https://satwcomic.com/every-time https://satwcomic.com/every-time
mdp2021 5y ago
"Mutual assistance" I believe is the concept.

mabbo 5y ago

This is the same in Canada. My wife is due to give birth in 3 months. The biggest bill we're concerned about is the parking lot. I think it's $20/day. And if the parking fee was too much, I've heard that one can go talk to the reception desk and they'll open the gate for you. I would rather pay very slightly higher taxes and let all of my fellow Canadians have this benefit than be very sightly richer and live in a society that doesn't have this.

xtracto 5y ago
Exactly! For me it is the peace of mind: not having to worry about deductibles... will it be covered? What hospital can I go to? Ambulance or uber... so much stress. On top of your ailment. I prefer to pay 35-40% in taxes and not have to worry about that. I worry about my work and my systems. They pay me for that. I pay my money so that I dont have to worry. Paying (a private insurer) to get additional worries? No thanks.
- mabbo 5y ago
  > I pay my money so that I dont have to worry My view on money it that the purpose of money is to solve problems. My goal is not to have more money, it's to have less problems. I live in a country where I do not ever have to think about how I will pay for my healthcare, which would be an enormous problem to have.
- herval 5y ago
  > I prefer to pay 35-40% in taxes and not have to worry about that The biggest irony is that’s in line with the taxes we pay in the US (probably more if you’re in tech and live in CA or NY), so it’s not like you pay lower taxes in the Land of the Free anyway.
  - xboxnolifes 5y ago
    Truly hard to say without knowing the commenter's income. I know that's significantly higher than my effective tax rate.