4 ms·

Germany has free health care, so it's in the insurance's best interest to keep the cost low.

by zyx321 4y ago

luckylion 4y ago
In the same way that it's in the bureaucracy's best interest to be lean and efficient and serve the citizens, because they're funded by taxes. And we all know how that goes. Public insurance companies in Germany are motivated not to deviate too much from the average results of other public insurance companies, but they don't have any incentive (besides the same one that applies to the state in general) to lower the costs.
- igorkraw 4y ago
  Not really. Public insurance in Germany was explicitly designed to have independent governing bodies, which is why you get to vote on certain decisions. Few people do, but it's one of the examples of non-state democratic governance that is a success story (another being cooperatives...)
  - luckylion 4y ago
    That must be why they're cost-efficient, lean machines and not bloated bureaucracies. Having dealt with the AOK on behalf of a neighbor to get a wheel chair since he cannot walk, I couldn't tell them apart from the welfare office with regards to processes and motivation of employees. Contrasting that with a private insurance (or a housing cooperative, as you mentioned them) is day and night. In the end, they are dependent on federal policies and subsidies, so yes, they are technically not part of the state, but for all intents and purposes, they are: funding is decided on by the state, the covered procedures are decided on by a state-created and -controlled almost-but-not-quite-state-office (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuß, which was created by the Ministry of Health but is nominally independent-ish, yet still needs to have its decisions reviewed by the ministry, and is able to set standards and guidelines which have the characters of a law). And like all bureaucracies, they are steadily growing and require frequent budget-increases.
lnsru 4y ago
There is nothing free in Germany. I see every month ~800€ leaving my account. It’s on par to Swiss one and as I heard not far from the one in USA. And it’s not good!!! This free health care pays only for basic and/or old treatments.
- igorkraw 4y ago
  With what income, which insurance and what type of issue? German public healthcare is pretty comprehensive and cheap (one of the few things I miss) and definitely not on par in terms of price with Switzerland which is even further away from the US nightmare
  - lnsru 4y ago
    Nice that you call 800€/month cheap. You are probably seriously rich.
    - ahartmetz 4y ago
      Public health insurance cost is ~proportional to income up to a cap of about 800€ per month. So GP is reaching the cap, for which, by the way, you don't need to be seriously rich. It's IIRC 80k€ or so before taxes per year.

Germany has free health care, so it's in the insurance's best interest to keep the cost low.

by zyx321 4y ago

Germany has free health care, so it's in the insurance's best interest to keep the cost low.

In the same way that it's in the bureaucracy's best interest to be lean and efficient and serve the citizens, because they're funded by taxes. And we all know how that goes. Public insurance companies in Germany are motivated not to deviate too much from the average results of other public insurance companies, but they don't have any incentive (besides the same one that applies to the state in general) to lower the costs.

igorkraw 4y ago
Not really. Public insurance in Germany was explicitly designed to have independent governing bodies, which is why you get to vote on certain decisions. Few people do, but it's one of the examples of non-state democratic governance that is a success story (another being cooperatives...)
- luckylion 4y ago
  That must be why they're cost-efficient, lean machines and not bloated bureaucracies. Having dealt with the AOK on behalf of a neighbor to get a wheel chair since he cannot walk, I couldn't tell them apart from the welfare office with regards to processes and motivation of employees. Contrasting that with a private insurance (or a housing cooperative, as you mentioned them) is day and night. In the end, they are dependent on federal policies and subsidies, so yes, they are technically not part of the state, but for all intents and purposes, they are: funding is decided on by the state, the covered procedures are decided on by a state-created and -controlled almost-but-not-quite-state-office (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuß, which was created by the Ministry of Health but is nominally independent-ish, yet still needs to have its decisions reviewed by the ministry, and is able to set standards and guidelines which have the characters of a law). And like all bureaucracies, they are steadily growing and require frequent budget-increases.

lnsru 4y ago

There is nothing free in Germany. I see every month ~800€ leaving my account. It’s on par to Swiss one and as I heard not far from the one in USA. And it’s not good!!! This free health care pays only for basic and/or old treatments.

igorkraw 4y ago
With what income, which insurance and what type of issue? German public healthcare is pretty comprehensive and cheap (one of the few things I miss) and definitely not on par in terms of price with Switzerland which is even further away from the US nightmare
- lnsru 4y ago
  Nice that you call 800€/month cheap. You are probably seriously rich.
  - ahartmetz 4y ago
    Public health insurance cost is ~proportional to income up to a cap of about 800€ per month. So GP is reaching the cap, for which, by the way, you don't need to be seriously rich. It's IIRC 80k€ or so before taxes per year.