What experts say about who has the world's best health-care system | Opinion

The U.S. health-care system is broken, but do other countries have it better? Seven leading health economists and public policy experts reflect on one of the hardest questions facing them - and us - today.
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[@Skiddins]

Remember a Reddit somewhere, where a particular person had attended a healthcare symposium, the speaker had said (paraphrasing) "America's healthcare system works exactly as it's intended, it's just not intended for the benefits of the patients"

[@micheledix2616]

BEST comment on this whole posting

[@fensterlips]

Nice and snarky remark there. The USA healthcare started with companies looking for worker benefits in the wage frozen era of WWII. The other countries praised had to do a full rebuild after the war- a clean sheet of paper.

[@danaesquires7571]

@@fensterlips not Australia. We weren't ruined by a war. But when we created universal healthcare we were a more equitable place than we are now. There was higher union membership and more income security and traditionally I think we valued equity more.

[@christianv7997]

Yea it’s a business just like our education system and our prison system nothing will get better unless we change the goal from making money to helping people

[@ytucharliesierra]

@@fensterlips In Germany, Bismarck introduced the statutory health insurance in 1883.

[@bingosunnoon9341]

I just had open heart surgery. The most difficult part of the whole process from diagnosis to recovery was fighting off the insurance company. This is the USA health care system. Only one day after surgery, I start getting notices that my insurance will not pay. They even sent a rep to the ICU to tell anyone who would listen. They eventually did pay, but it was a tough battle that left me feeling beat down.

[@mypointofview1111]

That is just heartless. I feel sorry for your bad experience and wish you good health going forward 🙏

[@kindredg]

Horrible

[@dthomas9230]

Default position is deny care and tell the patient to appeal.

[@daniel213141]

I can't imagine being in such a vulnerable position and having to deal with these jackals from the insurance company.

[@xymonau2468]

That is so sad. Here in Australia it would be completely free, except for some medication at home, but there is a $38 or so cap on the cost. Most are cheaper.

[@JookySeaCpt]

As an attorney who has worked a lot of healthcare cases for hospitals, insurance providers, and pharmacies, I can tell you that the our system is deeply and profoundly broken. I do not know how to fix it, but something needs to change and soon.

[@samreh6156]

The problem is the greed of the 1 percent, who call the shots and have enormous power over the political process.

[@kevinfisher1345]

@@samreh6156 Except for Big Pharma, that is NOT the problem at all. There are multiple various reasons for the high US healthcare costs. Yes greed of the Big Pharma is one of the reasons ... just one. The entire rest of the industry (including insurance companies) makes normal profits or loses money.

[@JacksonHoulihan]

The first thing to do is remove the profit motive from healthcare since it always gets in the way of providing proper care to people because insurance companies would rather make profits then help people stay or get better.

[@robguyatt9602]

It can't be fixed until the right stops screaming SOCIALISM whenever universal health care is suggested. Those telling the loudest know the least about the meaning of the word. The word is actually irrelevant. What is relevant is that most people left AND right would like to have affordable healthcare that gives them cover for ANY health emergency that doesn't bankrupt them. All that's need in my humble opinion is for the right to drop their irrational and often self destructive ideology and accept the fact that their system is so bad compared to so many other countries. Then they will see the sense that the likes of Bernie Sanders makes in this regard. BUT! what must be done first is that lobbying with kickbacks for politicians MUST be made illegal. Equally private donations to candidates and sitting politicians must also be made illegal. Only then will sitting members and senators of on either side start performing with the wishes of their costituents in mind rather than their donars as it clearly is the case now. The USA is far from a democracy as it currently stands.

[@kevinfisher1345]

@@JacksonHoulihan That is not even one of the main issues :( It really makes me sad when so many want to simply address easy simple things instead of address the hearts of the problems. This is a long well known issue and it is no wonder it has yet to be fixed because no one wants to address the real hard actual issues. Sorry mate but no profit is not getting in the way of providing proper care at affordable costs. So it definitely does not get in the way of providing proper care period (not even considering the costs). Non-profits has been doing this for decades, and the prices has continued to escalate even for them. That proves your point is wrong. It has nothing to do with profits at all. It is many various ways in how the system works that each individual small aspect just contributes and compounds the high costs. Fudge most of these other countries ALSO have private insurance companies that also make a profit. Such as in Germany or Australia for example. And those other countries do not have such issues.

[@Archie_Haddock]

I find this discussion quite biased as all interviewees are American or working in the US. It would have been valuable to have input from European or Asian experts as well.

[@thisismetoday]

Exactly my thought. But you can’t expect these days for any US or UK media outlets to ask anyone whose native language is not English! US outlets usually ask one British person and think they have now covered Europe on the topic, and UK outlets usually ask someone from the US to get an “international view”. It’s quite ridiculous, I’ve been noticing this pattern for a while!

[@RustyDust101]

Agreed 100%. Even involving such terms as equity, solidarity seems to take an effort for all of the panelists, or rather, their fear of being shouted down as a socialist, thus cut from any future panels. The power of the red scare in the 1950's STILL carries on spread.

[@tobfos]

Agreed.

[@lovelyskull3483]

Absolutely agreed.

[@nathansutherland1199]

Don't forget it's the Washington Post .... Owned by Rupert Murdoch

[@erikengheim1106]

As a Norwegian who cares a lot about health care and have lived in the US and the Netherlands and experienced the health care there was well I think the interview here echo a lot of my own experiences and views even if I think you miss a lot by just listening to a bunch of experts in America who have never actually lived abroad and experienced these systems for themselves. It is true like these guys say that nobody has figured out everything. We all struggle with health care systems in every country. In fact everyone is often so frustrated with their own system that you may not always realize how good it is. I was very negative to the Norwegian system until I lived in the US. But my experience in the US was definitely mixed. Certain things worked very well in the US: 1. Often very highly competent doctors. 2. Proactive doctors. Good at asking pointed questions. 3. Emergency response is very good. Here is what I found clearly bad in the US system: 1. Zero holistic thinking. Health care is like a product you buy off the shelf like any other consumer good. There isn't much of an attempt at raising general health in the population. In many other European countries one starts much earlier focusing on how people eat, teaching nutrition, getting kids to have health habits etc. In the US this aspects seems to be entirely lacking. 2. You are a customer more than a patient. They often focus more on making you satisfied with the service rather than doing what is best for you as a patient. Over treatment is a clear problem. They give you way too much painkiller and anti-biotics for instance. You get pills which serves no purpose for your condition "just in case." 3. Very focused on pills and procedures rather than lifestyle changes and health advice. Instead of a system which lets people who are not well take some days off to recover, humans are treated like broken machines which needs a quick patchup with pills and surgery. Americans who are not well are constantly pushing themeselves to work, popping pills instead of being given time to recover naturally. 4. Excessive pill commercials everywhere, giving people the idea that everything is about just getting the right pill. That is a general US problem. All problems in the US are presented as being solved by the right consumer product. Your life improvement is always something for a company to profit from.

[@AizakkuZ]

Yep, this is on-point. I often see Dutch people complain and it is interesting to see, I myself have complained about the American system but, we have really good healthcare it’s just extremely expensive. So only like the rich have access to it, but then you think about other countries like the Netherlands and you notice, they have the same thing except there is a net. The net being that cheaper standardized healthcare insurance plan. America doesn’t have a standard mandatory insurance plan, although we do have mandatory car insurance 😂. Also with the graph shown, I can’t help but think about Americans culture and how it incentives absolutely poor living conditions. You have car centrism, excessive food portions, profit-focused food choice. Car centrism is a problem because people aren’t walking much or going outside much when coupled with the internet. Excessive food portions are a problem because Americans tend to just overall eat more and are incentivized to because it generates more profit. The bigger the portion the more you can charge for it. Profit-focused food choice, this sort of adds to the point before but also adds in a nutrition aspect. Healthy foods are expensive, so instead companies are incentivized to not only make bigger portions but also make it of course as cheap as possible to manufacture. Not only that but the food is industrialized en masse, in other countries people tend to go to more up-coming, local restaurants I guess you could say. Here you just generally have name-brand copy-paste restaurants everywhere.

[@WizardOfWor]

This. The majority of these so-called "Doctors," "Nurses," "Physicians," inside of clinics, etc. in the U.S. *only care about kickbacks & the money* that they get from serving the pharmaceutical industry (Big Pharma). Their job is to provide everyone with poisonous, pharmaceutical drugs that'll make you feel worse with the awful side effects that comes attached to them. Why? In order to make you keep coming back to them so that they can make more money from people & their sickness, & supplying them with *more* of those drugs. All of us have to turn towards stuff being the following: 1.) Natural Remedies, herbs, supplements, etc. (Naturopathy, Holistic, Integrative, Functional) 2.) Diets (like Keto or Carnivore). 3.) Drinking water. 4.) Eating fruits, vegetables, & _real_ natural foods. 5.) Exercising daily. 6.) Using Intermittent fasting. *_Those_* are the keys to help you lose weight. And if anyone *has* to turn to doctors/nurses/physicians in the U.S., make sure that they're something like Naturopathics, Holistics, Integratives, Functionals, etc. And make sure that they're 100% certified. _They're_ the ones that *truly* cares about you!

[@nathanielbrice8725]

Well said!

[@KolnFriedChicken]

@GamingDNA98 "Europe has bad name in healthcare"? In the US? Well, maybe you should travel, meet some people who did or stop surrounding yourself with idiots. Of course you get pain killers in the EU but just for your urgent need. Dpctors in general are more like to look at the reasons for your pain rather then just fighting the symptoms. So if you have back pain you most likely get a transfer to an orthopedist to look at your locomotor system.

[@KolnFriedChicken]

@GamingDNA98 If you insist, that european doctors give advice instead of medication I highly doubt that you've ever been here and it's quite obvious who's foolish...

[@LewisAtonn]

Investing can play a crucial role in helping individuals manage and keep up with healthcare expenses in the United States. By strategically allocating funds into investment vehicles such as health savings accounts (HSAs), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and brokerage accounts, individuals can build a financial cushion to cover medical bills and unexpected healthcare costs. Moreover, investing in dividend-paying stocks, bonds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) can generate passive income streams that can be earmarked for healthcare expenses. Additionally, investing in healthcare-focused mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allows individuals to capitalize on the growth potential of the healthcare sector while diversifying their investment portfolio. By adopting a proactive approach to investing and diligently managing their finances, individuals can better navigate the challenges of healthcare expenses and secure their financial well-being.

[@tomaszcz_k]

Certainly! Participating in investing is a critical component of financial planning, ensuring individuals can maintain their desired lifestyle and financial security during their retirement years and also to help battle health issues when you can no more work when you get ill.

[@LewisAtonn]

Experts such as Dustin Dwain King offer extensive knowledge and experience, aiding clients in crafting tailored financial strategies to achieve their objectives. Recognising the significance of expert guidance is essential, especially in management and risk mitigation...

[@Windarti30]

Thank you for the lead. I searched him up, and I have left him a message. I hope he gets back to me soon.

[@WiolciaMrozowska531]

As a cancer patient I can totally relate, because I have spent over 2 years battling breast cancer, So the expenses for medicals are outrageous and could be depressing. Thats why having an expert like Dustin Dwain King by your side is valuable due to his ability to provide personalised advice tailored to your specific financial situation. With his expertise, he can help you navigate complex financial decisions, optimize your portfolio, and develop strategies to achieve your long-term financial goals.

[@AnthonyLauder]

Many Americans seem unaware that in much of the EU, as well as having "universal healthcare" available to all, you can also choose private healthcare, since there are plenty of private hospitals which you can pay out of your own pocket or via private medical insurance. Most people are perfectly happy with the universal system, so see no need to use the private hospitals, but some people do prefer them. That is, you have choices in the EU that are simply not available in the US, where only the private healthcare system exists.

[@rogeratygc7895]

Yes, that is certainly the case in the UK.

[@zion9860]

Majority of people select private health in the EU due to its better health coverage. The out-of-pocket expenses is nowhere near what Americans are paying.

[@DivinesLegacy]

Americans don’t like taxes though, universal healthcare will never happen.

[@AnthonyLauder]

@@DivinesLegacy All Americans are already paying high taxes that fund medicare and medicaid even though only a few people benefit from those services. As astonishing as it sounds, the per taxpayer cost in the US would actually go down if medicare and medicaid were replaced with an NHS-style system of universal health care. I couldn't believe it myself when I first read about it, but the numbers back it up.

[@DivinesLegacy]

@@AnthonyLauder idk if that’s true or not, Because I’ve heard the opposite 100 more times, But if it is true. The average American won’t buy it, Americans look at taxes in Europe and assume it’s solely because of universal healthcare. If you could convince Americans that taxes won’t raise then people would’ve happily voted for Bernie.

[@abunael1]

I have a good friend who sought medical care of a problem. He was refused to get colonoscopy because he had no insurance. After four years he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. In my opinion, we could have saved if we performed colonoscopy four years ago.

[@MyDagfinn]

Since I was operated on, the healthcare system here in Norway schedules a check on me every three years as a minimum. If they were worried, it would be more often. So, I am pretty familiar with my inner life, as I lie there viewing my colonoscopy on my own 50-inch flatscreen - take the mandatory stop where they removed 25 cm's and say I am all right. It is a great feeling knowing that I am looked after and that I have no clue what it cost, as I pay nothing.

[@johanj3674]

I guess he's issue isn't one included in "best for many people".

[@rickl5596]

That's sad, but having no insurance does not mean he couldn't have gotten a colonoscopy.

[@ronblack7870]

and if he got the colonoscopy but has no insurance who would pay for his further treatment.

[@monkeymox2544]

@@ronblack7870 The taxpayer, like in any civilised country

[@jesusalbertodelorenzosanta9711]

0:40 I love how he says that countries north of France have the best healthcare systems despite showing a statistic with the countries ordered this way: France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman. Every single one of them are south of France

[@Raumplestomp]

what is best place in the world?

[@davewilson9738]

Its an American giving the directions; they don't know about the world away from their shores really.

[@simonjaz1279]

@@davewilson9738 ignorance is bliss

[@user-mp6cj5he1o]

I'm Ukrainian and i live in France since 2022 and is it true, i'm happy With healthcare system of The South of France. 🇺🇦🇨🇵 SLAVA UKRAINI 🇺🇦

[@G.i.l.a.n]

He said better not the best

[@jamesl9371]

The last comment… absolutely not. I would not want to be in the USA and be terribly sick. I would go broke or die. Or both

[@lesliestenta3084]

Exactly why I left the US. I had to quit my unstable job in a hospital in Hawaii where I worked for 28 years. Cobra payment was $600 a month and now will probably be around 1400. This is insane. Moved overseas 3 years ago. My total cost for 3 years in Thailand was under 200 dollars, I don’t need healthcare insurance here. Also the the healthcare is excellent, efficient and affordable. Even if I needed insurance it is affordable.

[@TomorowGames]

Yea that’s because we poor. Rich people from other countries come to America though for Healthcare. Poor Americans go to Canada for drugs. Rich Canadians come to America for doctor visits and surgeries.

[@cambad9900]

That’s what I thought about the last comment too. He seemed very arrogant and out of touch. The majority of what he said had no substance. Healthcare is very black and white just like having a car is very black and white. What I mean is that you are either walking to your destination, or you are driving. Yes, some cars run better and other cars are more comfortable but those are not concerns I have when I desperately need to get to a destination. The main barrier with healthcare is money. Money decides whether I get treated or not. If the cost is too great, then I don’t get healthcare. That is the single greatest barrier with America’s healthcare system.

[@goldwingerppg5953]

@@lesliestenta3084 That’s not a option for most people. As much as I love Thailand there’s not a chance their healthcare is close to any First World country. The ACA is far better than most critics give it credit for, including myself when it first was implemented. I have excellent healthcare (not ACA) and my wife and I pay about $125 per month total with very low deductibles. I get I’m very lucky, however, my son, who’s a 30 year old gig worker (actor) has been paying $0 for the insurance and $0 for medications. That will probably change since he’s been working a lot more now the Covid restrictions have been lessened, but still very affordable.

[@lesliestenta3084]

@@goldwingerppg5953 health care is always good , if you have abscess to it and can afford to pay the outrageous costs.,I worked in hospitals for 30 years, while yes , the diagnostic testing and the specialists are excellent. But, in the last 10 years our politicians cut Medicaid and healthcare to barebones. In the ICU where I worked we we’re always short staffed and severely short staffed on weekends, no support staff. So , you are paying those the arse for healthcare insurance, but your care is compromised. Really, our healthcare is not the best, we are number 1 in Covid cases and deaths in the entire world. That tells you all you need to know.

[@anshulmishra5521]

So I am an Indian, who has lived in the US and now I live in Germany. Indian system is fully private, yet very affordable and the quality of the doctors and nurses is also very good. Depending on the type of problem, one can acquire great care.The German system is expensive (because of taxes) but very reliable and dependable and is very closely interconnected to the employment. The system in the US is very very expensive and absolutely the worst. In the US, despite of having a decent insurance, one ends up being poor because of something silly. I remember being fetched to the hospital in an Ambulance because I collapsed. But I later regretted paying a ridiculous amount of money for nothing they did. I had a 'better' insurance they said.

[@utkarshgajpal5866]

True. I live in Germany and now that I have to wait for 4 months for any specialist doctor, I feel the Indian healthcare for middle class Indians is way better.

[@blackmk3790]

@@utkarshgajpal5866 German here, what specialist do you have to wait 4 months for? I never had to wait for anything more than 2 weeks. Hope you get well tho.

[@utkarshgajpal5866]

@@blackmk3790 I live in Hamburg. In 2020, I had stomach ache. Hausarzt did not even check or ask anything, simply gave an überweisung for Gastroscopy. It took 4 months to just get the gastrointestinal termin. By then, I contacted a doctor online in India and he told me some dietary changes plus gave a simple medicine which my friend from India brought. There are so many such simple medical care which was so easy to get in India and becomes difficult here. Off course, overall German healthcare takes care of everyone unlike India where only those who can afford to pay get good Healthcare.

[@jessicaely2521]

@@blackmk3790 for the gynecologist I had to wait 4 months. In Switzerland I had to wait 9 months. The US worse case scenario I have to wait 2 weeks.

[@book5ter]

@@jessicaely2521 And at what cost?

[@thestevenjaywaymusic7775]

I am British and live in France and the health care system is the best I have ever come across. It is stunning. Top class.

[@willieG333]

I paid $400 for a kidney transplant operation, which costs about 200K in the states. I pay $6 a month for my transplant meds, which actually cost over $3,000. The Japanese National Healthcare on based on your income. In America after 3 years they cut your Medicare for meds. Terrible Healthcare system.

[@DontUputThatEvilOnMe]

At the most with my insurance in the USA I would pay 8,000 usd in a year for anything but again my taxes every year are about 15% of 90,000 usd between me and my wife. So it’s just not as bad as it sounds. There are the horror stories of course but not many are actually paying 200k out of pocket. Many hospitals will forgive any expenses and write it off as a tax deduction in their taxes as charity. If you show them how it will ruin you economically. So many hospitals do not actually pay many taxes cause the government encourages them to do charity work for people who cannot afford certain treatments.

[@mauriceschaeffer5070]

@@DontUputThatEvilOnMe I appreciate this comment.

[@blakelewison9872]

@@DontUputThatEvilOnMe I sell Medicare plans to seniors and I know just how confusing it really is. The US health insurance system is terrible and it fails the most vulnerable people who need it the most.

[@Tansle620]

@@blakelewison9872 bc you are given select options. you are cornered into a plan. America would greatly benefit from competing insurance companies.

[@johnbisset1320]

I payed nothing in Scotland. And nothing for my drugs after.

[@lordhoho1]

No one mentioned that it should be available to all citizens. What good is a system that cures you and leaves you bankrupt. There should be no profit being made by insurance companies who will benefit by providing the lowest level of care. I don't want to be on a phone call with some company arguing that my son needs care that they say is not part of my plan. The US system is meant to generate profits first and healthcare second

[@tomcooper2646]

Even in the top 10 countries on the list, healthcare is far from free.

[@lordhoho1]

@@tomcooper2646 free has nothing to do with money. It means free access to all citizens. Of course we pay through taxes but those at the lower end of financial status deserve the same care as the rich. Yesterday I visited a good friend dying of cancer. He was in a state of the art hospital in a single room receiving 24 hour care. His family did not have to worry about any bills arriving after time comes. I myself lost both parents never having to worry about money.

[@tomcooper2646]

@@lordhoho1 I suggest you go back and read your original post. The word free was used and qualified by multiple words relating to money such as bankruptcy and profit. If you want the meaning of your post to not be about money, substitute the word free with accessible. That being said, I agree healthcare needs to be accessible to all and a right of all citizens regardless of wealth.

[@shimes424]

@@tomcooper2646 I suggest you go FY after going back to the OP and seeing "free to all citizens"

[@lordhoho1]

@Paradigm Shift they make good money many top surgeons in million dollar club

[@panther7748]

The key word is "solidarity". It's really absurd to see how clearly all of these experts know this term and know that it would be the most appropriate description of "the rich helping the poor, the healthy helping the sick" etc., but avoid to say it all all costs because the political perception of the average US viewer is so skewed that the mere mention of it would provoke a hailstorm of "socialism" accusations.

[@highlanderthegreat]

but medicare, medicaid, the goverment plan for goverment workers local, state and federal workers , military health care ... union workers health care... all those is a form of SOCIALISM HEALTH CARE because it is a collective but the average person must it get individually....

[@panther7748]

@@highlanderthegreat What do you want to say with that?. The german healthcare system was introduced by Bismarck in the 1880s to remove the reason for people to vote for the socialists, but so what? It works. Solidarity and collective solutions/collective liberty has always been the the core of socialism, but that's not a bad thing. Solidarity means that everyone helps everyone. So what's your argument?

[@PierreMiniggio]

Honestly I don't think "solidarity" is as precise of a word than how they paraphased it. Because they are multiple ways to apply solidarity, and they mentioned the 2 main ones that define how different various western healthcare systems are (they're all on that spectrum of how much healthy patients help the sick, and on how much rich people help the poor). Using that word to make the sure that idea hits home might have been better, but I don't think it should have replaced their description at all. And yes, makes sense that people could say that it's a socialist idea when we're talking about having more solidarity in the healthcare system (either through mostly heavily regulation of insurance companies like in germany, or mostly government ran like in France) ? That's the whole point of the ideology ? And because when you're not applying any kind of solidarity in a given healthcare system, you're following a more liberal ideology ? I'm trying to understand your " "socialism" accusations" point, can't we name things what they are ? Is it a crime to think that you can apply socialist ideas for some things in society ?

[@panther7748]

@@PierreMiniggio You misunderstood me. I have nothing against socialism and I'm not an American. I was criticising the common thought in the USA that "socialism" is something inherently bad (while most americans use this label for everything they don't like and don't even know what it means).

[@PierreMiniggio]

@@panther7748 There are people like that everywhere (given, probably more of them in the US beause it's more right wing leaning than most of Europe)

[@Lea-rb9nc]

As a California native who sold out and moved to the south of France in 2007, there is no comparison. As a mental health professional, I saw too many people denied access to even basic health care. And now, you have the additional challenge of depriving women of necessary health care. If America could sink any further down that list, they are certainly doing all they can to make things even worse. I am more grateful each day to live where I do. I only wish that those back in America could depend on their healthcare system.

[@Lea-rb9nc]

@@Maggie-zr2ow There are enclaves of Brits who keep to themselves more or less and have managed for years. I prefer to dig in and learn the language. With a background in art, you can find a number of venues and groups to work with and who would help you along the path. What it boils down to, is how committed you are.

[@alastairhewitt380]

​@@Maggie-zr2ow You can live just about anywhere without knowing the language, although I don't know why you would want to live in a non-english speaking country without wanting to study the language. The level of language ability you'll need boils down to what you need to do in order to survive & obtain the appropriate visa once you get there and how much you are willing to adjust your social network based on your language abilities (sticking mostly to expats or befriending locals who may not speak your language). If you want to obtain work sponsorship then knowledge of the local language is almost always essential, but if you are part a multi-national and have a high enough position - there might be some flexibility there. If that is not possible you could see if there are digital nomad or work-holiday options to help get you started. I don't know how the pandemic has changed things, but the US as far as I know, holds work-holiday agreements with Australia, NZ, Ireland, and South Korea. One of the easiest options if you are working remotely, albeit one of the more expensive ones, is to simply find a language school and apply for a student visa. The cheapest options typically act as visa-factories (although they can sometimes be quite good / adequate at teaching the language, it depends), but if you have the financial means to do so I would suggest being selective about the school you choose. The cheapest option can often be quite good, but others can be bad and it is worth learning the language if you are determined to live there. In my experience, the schools are quite flexible when it comes to adjusting to your schedule, so don't get discouraged by the number of hours they list on their website. If your schedule doesn't allow for immersive classes, talk to them, they might say they are instructing you at 20hrs a week in a group setting for your visa, but may give you private 1hr chunks of instruction to suit your schedule. Lastly, there is the spousal visa. This can be either the easiest or trickiest route to take depending on how real or fake you want it to be and how well you perform on the dating market. I feel like girls typically have an easier time navigating this as they have historically been the sellers on a sellers market, so to speak. An ex-lover of mine used her ex precisely to acquire citizenship. Full of red flags, but the love-making was spectacular. Sadly and unsurprisingly she doesn't seem keen to share her now Australian citizenship with me 😑. I have South African and US passports to offer as exchange, but sadly the European and Asian Pacific nations know we are behind on the human rights so it doesn't count for much :/.

[@PierreMiniggio]

​@@Maggie-zr2ow French here, don't worry, if you ever move here, you'll be fine. In the bigger cities many people speak english. If people switched to english with you, it was probably because they assumed their english was probably better than your french, so they figured it was easier to communicate with you this way. Or maybe they simply just wanted to speak english. And if you happen to have to communicate with someone who doesn't speak a lick of english, it's okey too. You can go really far with just pointing fingers and a few words and some patience. And there are plently of translation apps. And you'll be learning french just like many people learn english nowadays, because you'll need it and you'll enjoy it :P Also, french and english grammar's are closely related (mostly because 40% of english words come from norman french and parisian french, for example "warranty" is derived from norman french, "guaranty" is derived from parisian french, and in today's french (which is basically parisian french) that word is "garantie"). Most of the words than end in "[en/a]tion" are spelled the same or almost the same (but pronounced differently, so just gonna learn the french sounds and pronunciation rules) : domination, attention, coloni[s/z]ation, etc. So, if you're an english native, french isn't that hard if we'd compare that to what learning another language non-related to english would look like. (I'm learning mandarin chinese right now, it's a very different experience than what learning english looked like lol) And when it comes to work, there are many companies who have their workers distributed in multiple european countries, and use english as a bridge language (in fact, the next position I'm taking in october happens to be exactly in that situation : french and spanish co-workers, so we'll be using english when talking to our spanish collegues). So when it comes to work, and given you're in IT, if you happen to need to look for a new job, it's gonna be fairly easy.

[@roshan7988]

@@Maggie-zr2ow if auditory is a challenge then you can get most of your input through reading, and that will work too as you are still using the language. The important thing is to just get as much input as possible, a lack of audo input definitely isnt a hard roadblock.

[@NAUM1]

Just so everyone is aware, France limits abortions to 14 weeks. European countries can be strict when it comes to American state standards. They obviously have exceptions. The Republicans are trying for a 15 week ban so one more week than France and that is viewed as the evil restrictive side on the issue. Will the 15 week ban pass? Probably not, but it shows how much more liberal America is on the issue, especially in a state like California, which would probably fight against it.

[@xammendoza667]

The best health care in the world is when a patient goes home and not worry bout anything including financial problems that may arise when the bill comes up. Because when you see your bill amounting to 5 to 6, even 7 digits, stress and depression arises. And possibly losing a whole chunk of hard-earned lifetime earnings, if not selling properties just to pay for that health debt.

[@chistovmaxim]

yeah but if healkthcare is completely free, a lot of people would stop caring about their health, knowing they can always get a free treatment if something goes wrong, thus increasing their county health spedings. and older people would call ambulances every day just to chat, like in russia. there is no any simple solution here

[@FallenAngel9979]

@@chistovmaxim That’s simply not true. We all care about our health here in the UK. Who would ever want to be sick??

[@RaymondwLin]

@@chistovmaxim Noooo, you are imagining things, I live in the UK and we don't treat the healthcare system like you imagine. Reality is very different to your imagination.

[@carolinemulheims7346]

@@chistovmaxim Gretings from germany. We don't have to worry about the bills. We don't get them. Well not really. When you have to stay in the hospital you pay 10€ per day but just for a month. the rest is free. The rest of the bill your insurance pay. If you need medicin you have to pay 5€ to 10€. The rest the ensurance pay. Also for mobility Aids. But if you call the ambulace for no reason you have to pay it all by your self and this is very expensiv. It depends on how long the ambulace had to drive. If a person because of your wrong call get demaged because there was no other ambulace aviable you can also get send to court or prison. and to be honest no hospital would care for you if you are not really sick. they send you home.

[@benfulford3943]

@@chistovmaxim hah that isn't true at all. Many countries with free healthcare spend way less on the system compared to America or any private system. When the government funds the healthcare for the population they look at ways to make it more efficient and run better. The best way to do that is to look at prevention. The old saying, prevention is better than the cure. In the UK, the NHS spends a much larger amount on health care for children because they know that it is much better to tackle health issues as children because then you are much more likely to have healthy adults. In the US there is no motivation for this at all. Also it is much better to use the health system more frequently and for minor illness and issues. Within the US system people are so scared of costs that they will ignore a minor health concern until it becomes a major issue. I don't think I need to go through the logic of why that is worse

[@ParArdua]

"America comes in ... dead last!"

[@richardrejmer8721]

I am Australian. . Recently my 45 year old unemployed son contracted viral encephalitis and was taken from his home by ambulance and admitted to a large public hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. He was at first very unsteady on his feet and would pass out every now and then. . . After 2 days he became 'confused' and then delusional and violent and had to be strapped to his bed for 7 days. There were numerous lumbar punctures performed. . . . MRI scans were done (three I think. . but at least 2 that I know of for sure) He had 24-hour one-on-one care to monitor his condition and behaviour for just over 2 weeks. . That is, he had a hospital employee (not quite a nurse, but a trained person) sit inside his private room or just outside the door, so they were in direct line-of sight with him at all times. He had all meals provided by the hospital. He had constant infusions of anti-bacterial and anti-viral medications . . Literally one after the other around the clock. . . For 9 days until he was well again And he had steroid infusions (to reduce brain swelling) every 4 hours. . He had multiple doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists come and examine him and consult with him while he was in the hospital. After 20 days in the hospital, he was sent home with further medication provided by the pharmacy at the hospital that he had to take for the following 2 weeks. The bill that he had to pay for all this? . . . *ZERO!*. . . Nothing. . . . It was *FREE* . . . That is the Australian national health system. So . . Ask me my opinion of what country has the best health-care system. .

[@lovelytalk7941]

It would have been the same in European countries, I am French it is the exact same, and if you cannot go to the ER, the ER comes to you they send two trained persons and if needed another persons for blood analysis, I think it's the same in Spain Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and nordic country... and we pay absolutely nothing. From the US standpoints we are "socialist" countries... but Man do I love my country who deeply care for my health

[@heikorudi6105]

it's not free, you pay with taxes

[@zoransarin5411]

Australian here and just amazed at the sad state of the US health-care system and what you guys are happy to put up with. I was absolutely gobsmacked recently when the Democrats couldn't even get up a piece of legislation that would allow the government to negotiate with drug companies. Just madness. For anyone interested, I think the Michael Moore movie Sicko did a good job questioning the US system and providing comparisons with other countries, including Cuba of all places. Well worth watching

[@roymaddocks3184]

Yup. Americans spend up to 8x more for insulin than Canadians

[@OneTrueScotsman]

"This is the country that you would -like to get your healthcare- go bankrupt or die from preventable causes, get crushed by other charges despite being insured."

[@johnsamuel1999]

Ironically both can be true

[@MrWatchowtnow]

Ahhh. Horseshit. In other countries you just die in the free hospital with worse medicine. Its why they come here for more rare and deadly diseases.

[@isaacng123456789]

​@@MrWatchowtnow Yea, they don't come here. US is not even close to the top when it comes to medical tourism. Singapore is. In US, you just die at home because you can't afford the ambulance ride and the medical bill. There are reasons why we are #40 when it comes to life expectancy, way behind countries like Canada and UK.

[@HatchikoChiko]

@@isaacng123456789 I agree about singapore. No body come to the US for a better treatment really. People from the US go to other countries for affordable healthcare.

[@davidhuett3579]

@@MrWatchowtnow Yeah .. you keep telling yourself that!

[@m7pothead762]

I'm disappointed that no one discussed about Taiwan. Its universal care insurance covers 99.9% of citizens and has the best price-performance ratio.

[@maryannaflak4184]

Well maybe because that involves a totally different question 😬🤭😅🥲 🇨🇳 🇹🇼

[@entropiceffect]

Places like Taiwan and Singapore (and probably Switzerland too) have a significant advantage in that they're small and dense which means you can easily concentrate a bunch of extremely high-quality medical resources in just a few institutions which makes it far more cost-effective. The US by contrast is expansive so you either have to make very costly investments in infrastructure and equipment if you want to ensure equitable access. I'm not defending the US healthcare system now - but it is one complexity (of many) that needs to be taken into account.

[@negativeiqpoints396]

@@entropiceffect yes but america gets a lot of tax money whch can be used for mroe medical resources

[@petruska111]

@@negativeiqpoints396 its about the density

[@eugenerider0701]

@@maryannaflak4184 Technically, in terms of hospitals readmission rate, China can outcompete US in many ways. In terms of wait time, cost-efficiency of care, and effectiveness of treatment etc. China is a communist country but its healthcare system is seriously far better than the US in many many ways. You aren't going to get bankrupt by going to a doctor, you aren't going to wait months to see a specialist, being hospitalized won't make you broke. I'm a Chinese, our healthcare has its problems as well, matter of fact, many problems. But for overall performance, I honestly believe this system has made so many more patients become healthy again in a matter of a couple months than most healthcare systems in the world.

[@omatousou]

I'm French, had two cancer, fully taken in charge, freely. Healed. I tried Swiss one that is soo much expensive. I would like to thanks my country for having saved my life twice

[@pierre-yvesbaumgartner7140]

On critique souvent notre pays mais on se rend pas compte de la chance qu'on a

[@ryanbrimson8238]

@@pierre-yvesbaumgartner7140 Exactement. Et c’est le même cas dans plusieurs pays dans le monde

[@lovelytalk7941]

@@pierre-yvesbaumgartner7140 mais il est génial notre pays !!!... C'est juste qu'on est un peuple de raleurs ;)

[@alexgray1905]

This video is perhaps the best explanation of why, as almost everyone agrees, the US while one of the richest country in the world has one of the worse, if not the worse, medical system. While other countries have implemented universal medical systems in a variety of ways since 1914, as is the case in Norway which was a very poor country in 1914, the US has been just talking and reviewing options, arguments and world examples while nothing is done. Nothing except eternally enrich the medical industrial system and their stock holders.

[@jessicaely2521]

The US has free Healthcare for people. There's Medicare (free Healthcare for people 65 and up), Medicaid (free Healthcare for people ages 18-64), and CHIP (free Healthcare for people ages 0-17). What is the issue with the Healthcare is health insurance companies have the ability to pick and choose what procedures, medicines, etc they are going to pay for. Pharmaceutical companies are also capable of setting their own price in the US. You have to cut the ability for Pharmaceutical companies to set their price and insurance companies having the ability to pick and choose everything. I wouldn't want to have governmental insurance. I like getting my health insurance through my employer. I like having the ability to choose what hospital I'm going to go to. Governmental insurances (Medicare is the exception to the rule) tells you what hospitals you can go to. Generally speaking it's public hospitals that have extremely long wait times for everything.

[@alexgray1905]

@@jessicaely2521 I presume the 40 million people who have no medical care access in the US is just "fake news by democrats". Additionally, there is no "free medical" system anywhere in the world. Nations which have universal medical systems pay for it with progressive taxation systems (the rich pay more than the poor) like Norway which instituted their national universal medical system in 1914. The US is the only developed country which has no universal medical system ... and it will never have one because of the myths that people like you continue to proselytize.

[@alastairhewitt380]

I honestly think we need an entirely new constitution and structure of government. Just look how nimbys can obstruct top down authority to keep us from building anything. The entire system is flawed. Sadly the government wields so much power by force via the military, police, legal & prison system, and we have grown so anti-democratic that true change is unlikely to happen whether it is attempted by force or by peaceful means.

[@highlanderthegreat]

@@jessicaely2521 it is not free at ALL. you pay for it in taxes..until you turn 65 or so then when you get it you still pay monthly... you pay into medicare and pay for it monthly after you have it so it is not free and mediaid is also paid for out of taxes... although the people on medicaid do not pay it is still paid for through taxes we pay....

[@PierreMiniggio]

@@jessicaely2521 Come to France if you wanna experience what (mostly) free healthcare looks like 😁 All your basic medical expenses, and more than half of the specialized ones are covered by the government, and by paying 20 to 40€ per month some heavily restricted insurance company (provided by your employer, employer who is also legally bounded to cover at least half of the monthly bill of said insurance), most of the other half of the specialized care is covered.

[@JogBird]

america;s system reflects its values 100%

[@wolfecanada6726]

Profits before people.

[@vikrammulligan6489]

That is disputable. A majority of Americans already favor universal public healthcare. It is powerful corporations and conservative politicians that are the obstacle. Americans often act against their own best interests, but they aren't as conservative as people think.

[@Jaycee-Bee]

@@jehovahwitness4584 Yeah they are bribing them so the politicians will not interfered in their business (making more money and paying no taxes). The best country in the world, right?

[@HardlineFeminists]

@@Jaycee-Bee *Only the working slave-class pays taxes in America.*

[@jennifervan75]

Oof true

[@zanizone3617]

"For a lot of people, regardless of income, this is probably the country you would want to get your healthcare." Of course, and regardless of my income, the Penthouse Suite at The Mark, is where I would like to spend my vacation in New York city. Will I get it, at 75k per night? Not a chance. But I would sure want it. "Regardless of income" 🤦🤦🏼‍♂️🤦‍♀️

[@CEOredgrad]

I agree, arrogant statement by that expert.

[@CaptLoquaLacon]

It is obviously not someone who has ever visited Germany... or France... The video title is misleading, it should be "How do US healthcare experts try to ignore how badly they are failing as a nation?"

[@peterescalante1207]

What I got from this video more than anything else is that, in my opinion, it appears that many of these experts are out of touch with the reality on the ground or that they are working to muddy the waters just enough to have people give up on any reform.

[@CEOredgrad]

@@peterescalante1207 yep pretty much.

[@imzadi83fanvids7]

It's like when they brag about Saudi Princes coming to the US for health care, yes they come here for the best cutting edge treatment because they can afford to get it. Most US citizens, not so much.

[@leewalsh2428]

“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means” Aneurin Bevan.

[@brianmacadam4793]

I've had many injuries due to contact sports. I've experienced the American, Canadian, and several European systems first hand. I would choose the German system as first, then French, then Canadian. The US system was a distant last. I only had one experience in Germany and France, many many in Canada, and several in USA although I have seen the American system first hand on many occasions.

[@mikeharrison3618]

GOV involved in healthcare is poison like GOV involved in intellectual enforcers is mentally toxic. Without US innovations,drugs,medicine,equipment,etc. which rest of world piggyback on ,things would be depressing. Same applies with countries and their military or lack of,piggyback on US. SAME goes for technology. ENDLESS ENVY of US

[@mirandahotspring4019]

I live in New Zealand. For 40 plus years we have had the ACC, or Accident Compensation Commission. Injure yourself here playing sport and all medical expenses are free and the govt pays 80% of your wages until you are back at work. (Your employer is encourages to make up the other 20%) ACC even applies to tourists who are injured in an accident while in New Zealand. Mountain biking, whatever. All medical care for sickness, operations, etc is free and prescriptions are $5 regardless of what the medicine costs. Some pharmacies waver the $5 fee. Almost no one has medical insurance, if yoy have it it means you can have an operation immediately instead of going on a waiting list.

[@brianmacadam4793]

@@mikeharrison3618 The USA does produce a lot of important "STUFF" out in the world. But not ALL of the important stuff is American. Further this is a discussion on Healthcare not the military. The American system is horrendously expensive when you compare like-for-like. The universal system in Canada has about the same outcomes as in the USA, there is a strong private portion, is not perfect, but is about half the cost.

[@lzh4950]

@@mirandahotspring4019 In Singapore meanwhile some employers have been believed to be pressuring doctors not to give >2 days MC to staff injured at workplace accidents, so that they don't have to legally report the accident to the government. Public doctors are less reliant on the profit motive than private ones (who may rely on the employers' health insurance coverage for their staff for revenue) & are thus trusted to be better able to resist such pressure

[@mirandahotspring4019]

@@lzh4950 In NZ every workplace accident that results in any loss of work time or any medical intervention must be reported by law. Every doctor has the ACC forms that are filled out as soon as you say, "It happened at work"

[@deathvalleydavid]

‘The U.S. is dead last,’ comment is so quick if you blink if you miss it. Most of the ‘expert’ comments are so generalized they’re useless. It’s as if the editors have edited all the useful information out.

[@mairewalton5670]

If it’s not beneficial to it’s own citizens, then no, I do not want to get my healthcare from America whose rich shareholders would benefit from my illness and my money.

[@cpttreebeard9112]

Then just don't get insurance and pay out of pocket and pay 100x more

[@mairewalton5670]

@@cpttreebeard9112 … no thank you. Have universal healthcare where I live. Rich and poor are entitled to the same healthcare and we are respected equally.

[@therover1941]

@@cpttreebeard9112 You'll end up paying out of pocket anyway after being denied care... :-P

[@TheBlueThird]

@@mairewalton5670 Consider yourself fortunate. Many Americans wish for a better system.

[@Tansle620]

rich shareholders benefit from Canadian citizens using the healthcare. We just don't know what exactly we are buying and for how much. Unlike the States where you know where and how much money is going somewhere.

[@manfredkandlbinder3752]

"protect people from financial ruin" is not the same thing as "affordable and accessible for everyone", i don't think anyone needs to wonder why he puts it exactly that way he did. Greetings from germany, where everyone, no matter how poor or homeless he or she might be, never ever gets denied any treatment of their sicknesses, physical or psychological.

[@hardyakka1499]

I recently had a severe illness that required hospitalization. I was in intensive care for 4 days, 8 days total in hospital. Ambulance to hospital and entire stay in hospital was free. The hospital even paid for my cab home when I was discharged. The level of care was exceptional, they saved my life. I live in Brisbane, Australia.

[@COPKALA]

Almost the same here (Germany) after a Work related injury, I have received an OP and immediatley after Reha (Sport+PT+Swim++) for 10-12 weeks without any need to pay. After I went home I did some more (8 weeks) PT. My taxi to go home? Paid by the Insurance of the employer, the taxis to go to/from place where I was doing PT? Paid by the insurance of the employer. All my needs (toilet seat, stroller, crutches and so on) have been paid. I was never out-of-salary. If had a need to get help for shopping or cleaning the flat? Paid by the insurance.

[@gretnabear]

in conclusion, "a lot of people would like to get their health care' in US are those who have full access, fully covered and fully paid for by their employer, the gov't or their wealth.

[@MNP208]

The U.S. health care system makes a lot of money off obesity. If a patient is obese, he/she may need an endocrinologist, cardiologist, nephrologist. rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, pulmonologist, etc. Lots of revenue is generated by these specialists. There is no money to be made from health promotion and chronic illness prevention.

[@futuresequence.]

Canadian here. We're pretty fat as well and we still don't pay as much.

[@MNP208]

@@futuresequence. Our citizens like to claim that your health care is sub standard, although most Canadians I talk to seem to like it.

[@futuresequence.]

@@MNP208 it's great. Our doctors are fantastic. Sure if you live in a populated area you'll wait for non life threatening stuff, but it's mostly all covered.

[@simnm8057]

Wont you be discouraged because curing obesity as expensive

[@gina2838]

I as a Canadian feel a health care system that treats everyone for free is important. If you can't afford it you don't go to the doctor. I don't think of healthcare much just when I need it I use it. I know when I need it it is there

[@soyentak5076]

I also like that it is the purview of the provincial governments so they can customize their health care to their specific needs. I wish Michigan would just forget about US health Care as a whole and institute Michigan universal health care

[@sew_gal7340]

It isn't free, you are still paying for it through extremely high taxes. Though i do agree that it is superior to the usa health care

[@noobiedooby26]

As the gov is holding it is also really good because doctors can easily be accounted for mis judgment too…

For free???? Nothing in life is free..i assume that you pay taxes...

[@newspin2477]

There are major cost problems in the US, and I think it starts with the the relationship between insurance companies and health providers. Health providers are always trying to stay up to date with the absolute newest tech so they can ask for more from the insurance companies even if the new tech has a negligible impact on actual healthcare. Insurance companies have the power to question a doctor's recommendation without even seeing the patient. Meanwhile patients are largely at the mercy of these two entities and neither of them are looking out for our best interest (from a financial perspective). Fortunately, these are problems that could actually be addressed to some degree without changing how the entire country operates, unlike the two other major problems below. Second it has to do with work culture in the USA. For lower skilled/paid employees everyone is at-will and employers don't value their employees, so workers don't have the time to ever fully recover without it drastically affecting their work life. When you look at self-employed or highly valued workers, they just don't accept that they need to take time off to recover, so they probably wouldn't take time even if it was available. Either way this means pretty much everyone in America is prioritizing their job over their health, but changing this would require absolutely massive changes to how the whole country operates. Third, there's the food culture in the USA... whenever people talk about expectancy as it relates to healthcare I just roll my eyes because Americans just eat themselves to death and no healthcare changes are going to stop people from this habit. The most basic example I can think of is comparing major fast food chains available in the US to what's available in Germany. Germany has McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and KFC... that's about it. Here in the USA you have more fast food places than it's worth writing down and they serve much lower population communities and often drive through lines wrap around the entire building. I could drive to at least 3 Burger kings and 3 Mcdonalds in less time in my house in the USA than it would take to drive to the nearest Burger King/Mcdonalds where I lived in Germany (which was only like 10 minutes away, and it was easily within work commute time of Frankfurt, so not exactly out in the boonies). The legal system in the USA is another major contributor that would need to be overhauled, but I'm not expert enough to go into details, I just know that it's a huge expense for people on both sides of the equation (patients who can't afford to sue or providers who spend tons of money on insurance, which ultimately means higher costs for patients). So basically, I think most of the ways people are trying to "fix" or even compare the american healthcare system are pretty misguided. Healthcare is so ingrained into our economy and culture that they can't actually fix healthcare without breaking everything else. Instead they try to make new laws that either raises taxes or increases healthcare costs for the average American (who actually has a decent job and somehwat decent healthcare) without increasing their quality of care.

[@kevinfisher1345]

While I agree about your point of relationship between insurance and health providers. I have long said basically the same thing but in different words. You also need to include the relationship between insurance, health providers AND customers. However, I disagree that is the start. It starts from the very beginning. I have also stated the entire industry needs restructured from the ground up. Imho it starts with actual treatments. The pharmacy, the process to get drugs approved, and all the procedures. Put simply R&D. Than the Dr's themselves. Whom are overworked with a pretty low patient to dr ration. That progresses to the equipment which adds even more. Than the relationship which compounds the already high costs even more. Beyond comprehension. That imho is the final portion. (I skipped some in between). But yes providers are always trying to stay up to date to both attract better negotiated rates with the payors (insurance, etc), as well as to appeal to the customers. The payors themselves are also trying to appeal and attract to its customers. Also all the providers trying to obtain as many certifications it can, to again attract payors and customers. It is an ongoing vicious cycle. There are also far too many providers that provide all the same things unnecessarily imho, when not all of them need to provide the same services so as to cut down on needing to have all the latest tech. I agree with your third point. and your last paragraph as well. I have said the same thing, they are trying to apply a band aid instead of addressing all the problems. Trying to fix just one small aspect, and often times are just adding to the costs. Also yes legal system. Definitely. What many people seem to not grasp, is they are themselves part of the problem and part of why US health care costs are so high. In various levels. I already mentioned above the relationship aspect. But providers also have to have insurance. That is huge costs. Insurance that covers it all, from the equipment to liability. I am no expert either, but I do have some experience with this having worked in medical billing for over a decade at various medical providers. I will tell you just one story. In the late 90's I worked at a non-profit hospital. They worked out that they were losing money on their radiology. In particular on their MRI machine. Hospital received enough as projected for its outpatient services. But it was not for their inpatients. They were losing over a million per year in total. The hospital was also paying $1.2 million per year just on insurance for their MRI. That covered the MRI machine itself, the upkeep, radiologists and liability claims. So the hospital went to the insurance payors and tried to negotiate some small additional fee (like add'l $50 - $75) for every inpatient that received MRI's. That way they would cover the loss. And ofc the insurance companies just laughed at them. They could just send their customers elsewhere without needing to pay an add'l amount. So the hospital instead decided to force that add'l payment from the insurance companies. They created a medical group, which consisted of the hospitals employed radiologists. They sold the MRI to that group of radiologists. Nothing else changed except on paper who owned the machine. It stayed in the same spot with all the same hospital staff doing the work. Except now the hospital was referring out all MRI's to this group (which the hospital was the corporate company and owner of). So that new medical group were charging for outpatient services for ALL services. Regardless whether the customer was an inpatient or outpatient of the hospital. Problem solved. But the point of this story is just for one piece of equipment, they were paying $1.2 million back in the 90's. A significant amount of that was for liability coverage. Imagine how much other medical providers has to pay for insurances. And imho this is all ridiculous. Medical providers should not be held accountable for mistakes ... unless it was done on purpose. Anyone can give first aid and so long as they try and do their best, they are not held accountable. It should be the same for Dr's and medical providers as well. While this will not completely eliminate the high US health care cost, it is definitely a start. It would also be a start for causing Dr's less stress (although again not totally cure that problem either). Did you know Dr's has one of the highest divorces rates and one of the highest suicide rates in the US. Those going to medical school always say stress is one of the biggest problems. And that continues after they graduate and become Dr's.

[@danieldonaldson8634]

" Healthcare is so ingrained into our economy and culture that they can't actually fix healthcare without breaking everything else. " Perhaps what you meant to say was, "fix everything else". I wrote a post above this one if you're interested in what I mean: but the main point is, universal healthcare produces conditions that make all these things public crises. Terrible health from poverty and bad food also means that the person exits the healthcare system in many cases. in countries with Universal Healthcare, the desire to control costs causes these things to stick out like a sore thumb and direct action and legislation, precisely because the victims remain in the healthcare system,

[@koencuypers]

About the insurance for providers: I'm a Belgian physiotherapist. I was in the US in the late 80's to see if it was interesting to work over there, because US hospitals were seeking foreign physio's to come to work. One thing that struck me really was the law firms advertising allover to search people who wanted to sue their health care provider. This alone, among other things, made me decide not to work in the US. It looks as the US is a society of "try to sue somebody first before getting sued yourself".

[@kevinfisher1345]

@@koencuypers Yes and that is just so wrong. Worse, anyone that takes a first aid course must try their best. So long as they try their best, they are not held accountable. It should be that way across the entire spectrum of all medical personnel, not just some amateur with a short first aid course. Just one of the many issues in US healthcare system that contributes to its high cost.

[@jmelande4937]

As a health care provider, I have to say you’re getting my relationship with insurance very wrong. I have zero influence on the insurance company. The insurance company is motivated by profit and is NOT motivated to pay for the latest most expensive therapies, quite the opposite. The modern system of negotiations for reimbursement is between insurance companies and huge health systems that are controlled by non-clinical administration and done in the dark under confidentiality agreements. There are multiple layers of corruption and financial kick backs between hospital systems, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and drug distribution companies. They are ALL motivated to squeeze as much money out of patients to deliver the least care. And they are seriously in bed together. And with that money they just get bigger and control larger portions of the pie. (CVS Caremark is a prime example.) Physicians are the loose cannons in the system. We are trying to care for patients DESPITE the corruption and obstruction at the higher levels. But we have the least influence. Even group practices are getting gobbled up and controlled by hedge funds with no medical expertise.

[@kalmiyano]

During a visit in Japan, emergency ENT visit cost us about $60, which included antibiotics prescribed on the spot. This was without insurance. With national health insurance, it would’ve been less than $20. In the US, with our good insurance, a specialist co-pay is $60.

[@goldwingerppg5953]

My co-payment is $15-25 depending on if it’s a specialist or not. Prescription meds cost from $1-$35. I do have very good insurance, but my son who’s a 30 year old gig worker (actor) on Obamacare has paid next to $0 and $0 for prescriptions for excellent healthcare. If someone doesn’t have good affordable healthcare in the US someone needs to help them navigate ACA. My nephew been helping people with the ACA in Maryland since it became law. There are people in every state that can help people get good affordable healthcare. Maybe we have a messaging problem more than a healthcare problem.

[@blubberman911]

@@goldwingerppg5953 the ACA is simply just not good enough.. we need either a government run healthcare system or a two tiered system in which the government pays for all poor people's care meaning if your homeless or jobless or underemployed (making less than a certain amount of money). .. and then they should take a certain amount of your paycheck out automatically to pay for your healthcare if you employed.. which would depend on how much you make.. if you make less than less would be taken out.

[@Inkkari9]

@@goldwingerppg5953 you guys have such a great country that a proper healthcare system would suit you well

[@goldwingerppg5953]

@@Inkkari9 I belong to Johns Hopkins Hospital Healthcare system, I can’t complain getting healthcare from one of the worlds top hospital/ healthcare providers.

[@Inkkari9]

@@goldwingerppg5953 good for you

[@dyvel]

The biggest mistake in the question is to use the word "best". Anytime you use the word "best" you set up for an answer that is subjective. What you're looking four is an objective answer which means you have to define what qualities you're looking for. And in this case I think any value will have to be corrected for the needs of the country in question. Which country has solved a specific problem in a way that can be adopted by us?

[@samuraiblader1997]

Is not a mistake since it attracts the attention of people

[@Inkkari9]

I've learned that you have to be very precise/cautious in words when politics or other authorative people say it. Learned it in this covid time 😅

[@dyvel]

@@Inkkari9 extremely true! And even if you are, some people will find a way to twist your words into meaning the exact opposite 😅

[@statsguy1446]

Universal healthcare is objectively better than the American one. The healthcare in the US is good just for rich and there isn't and will never be a country with 100% of its population being rich. The rich would never be rich without the poor.

[@act_sion]

In the states you are a consumer and a customer, in the rest of the developed world you are a patient

[@BagusHutomo]

That 9 minutes is the most polite and fancy way to say "NOT AMERICA"

[@warpedjaffas1]

I reject the idea that what works in one country doesn't necessarily work in another. Taxation works in every country & its how healthcare is paid for on a National scale.

[@frankieknuckles9610]

What about the eating habits and coulture of all these countries and their knowledge and access to healthier food and personal freedom. Doesn't that play into this discussion?

[@krizdeep]

Ya Americans eat garbage so ya ?

[@cstrutherskgs]

Cultures, ideals, average health of citizens, style of government, natural resources, domestic healthcare talent and community, etc etc. I could go on.

[@vikrammulligan6489]

Yes, "what works in one country doesn't work in another" is a cop-out. You could transplant Canada's universal healthcare system to France, or the UK's to Germany, or whatnot, and it would still work. The differences affect the degree of optimality, but that's like debating whether you'll sail more efficiently in a sailboat with sails rigged one way or another. It matters if you're already clipping along and you want to go faster; that is, Canadians and Germans and Brits, who all have highly functional universal healthcare systems, can debate what sort of healthcare system works best and how each system can be improved. It doesn't matter one bit if you're in the water drowning; that is, Americans shouldn't even be worrying about the question. They should pick whatever sailboat they can reach; it's better than the status quo. America can pick the universal health care system of any developed nation, or of any of the many *developing* nations with universal healthcare, to emulate, and it will be better off than it is now.

[@krizdeep]

@@nildarivera8117 You obviously haven’t done your research and completely ignorant .... Go look of prices of standard drugs in the US and anywhere else in the world of insulin for example... We rather pay higher tax than go bankrupt paying for a medical procedure.... The median salary around the western world is much higher than the US you guys don’t even have a min wage 🤣😂

[@siniorgolazo]

0:41 "I think, in general, starting from France and working northern you tend to have the best healthcare systems" 1- France 2- Italy 3- San Marino 4- Andorra 5- Malta 7- Spain 9- Austria *11- Norway* Huh, not a single european country north of France is in that Top-10...

[@adapienkowska2605]

Yes, it is ridiculous, but the list is old (from 2020) and was criticized (for example Taiwan should be higher)

[@bloodwargaming3662]

Most of the countries in the list are tiny ones . So ig tiny = less management= better system I mean common San Marino has 33,000 people 😂

[@lovelytalk7941]

@@bloodwargaming3662 France : 69 millions :) not tiny

[@siniorgolazo]

@@bloodwargaming3662 italy, 59.1 million people. Spain, 47.4 million 😆 Tiny ones, indeed.

[@leooomaz9671]

I think there are philosophical issues here about how we figure out what healthcare system we want. As a French citizen, I feel like in America, health is like a lot of things, you have to somehow “earn” it. In France, I don’t think we see this like that. Everyone is entitled to access basic healthcare. “Liberté égalité fraternité” even in our healthcare system. However, I was surprised to see that we somehow were ranked this high. Because we clearly have some issues about the lack of doctors in the countryside and the emergency services being overwhelmed. But, even though, we have these problems, unlike the US, almost no one is ever worried to go see the doctor because of what it would cost them… This idea is quite shocking actually.

[@matsfrommusic]

When googling a certain type of cancer medicine I came across some Dr in the US saying "the smart patients get the smart treatments" which to me as a Swede felt very alien as it implies that there's a difference between patients. When treatments and medicine is the same for everyone regardless of income, education, demographics or whatever it is, I think that's a good way to start. To have taxes paying for health care is absolutely vital. Good to see the US finally doing something about this, as it seems(?) The hidden benefits that comes with this types of health care systems seems to be somewhat overlooked as well.

[@tiagogomes3807]

USA has the best survival rate on diagnosed cases of cancer. I put the emphasis on diagnosed...

[@maryannaflak4184]

I am a US citizen living in the US and have an employer-based insurance. It costs about $500 a month. I go for a yearly checkup. The doctor didn’t do any tests or labs like they would so in annual checkups in China where I grew up, and he just talked and asked questions for 20 mins. Based on our conversation, he sent me to the lab for tests after my visit. The lady at the lab told me it would cost me $500. I walked out without doing the test. I decided to move to France. I look at the weekly school shooting and the health care system. This is not where I want to raise my family.

[@ahmedalnumairi3498]

Don't a lot of people smoke in france?

[@houseplant1016]

@@ahmedalnumairi3498 What does that have to do with healthcare? And no France isn't in the top.

[@eejacksfineart]

Had a medical emergency in France and a Dr came to me, did tests and gave me a prescription then apologized profusely about the cost being $90E and gave me a form to submit to my insurance for reimbursement in the U.S. That has been the best health care I have ever received. I should also add that he said I should see a specialist when I returned home. It took Drs here in the US 1 yr to recommend a specialist to me. I have excellent insurance in the U.S. and have paid thousands out of pocket on top of my deductible because not everything goes under that category. Health "care" in the U.S. is abhorrent. If you have an uncommon illlness, you are preyed upon. Greed.

[@Delimon007]

We don't have weekly school shootings in America. Wtf are you talking about?!?!?

[@nathanielbrice8725]

America: home of the free to get killed at school!

[@daniellanctot6548]

Whenever anyone asks any question about which country has the best system of __(Blank)__ , Just answer any of the Continental Scandanavian Countries: You might not get the absolute best country on the given subject, but you'll be close enough to be in the top 5!

[@steveharris1928]

My 83 year old Mum had four separate stays in the (West Suffolk) Hospital last year (2021) from a few days to a fortnight (2 weeks) if we had to relay on private insurance she would have been dead - all i can say is thank (what ever you believe in) for the NHS & Aneurin Bevan.

[@zandvoort8616]

These folk sounded like they were absolutely tongue tied by corporates and politics that pay they salaries!

[@stevemactunes]

Your asking the wrong people. All these people being interviewed no doubt have excellent healthcare insurance. None of these people aren’t going to suggest anything that would get rid of their excellent insurance. They should be asking people that has no healthcare. They will honestly tell you what needs to be done. Number one it has to be affordable to everyone, and insurance and pharmaceutical prices have to be regulated, so everybody can have equal insurance and drug prices.

[@efuller3333]

Yes interview citizens and health care experts from other countries for a more complete picture

[@HardlineFeminists]

*Always state the obvious.*

[@s.s.s4269]

Exactly. All these experts are so disconnected with reality. That last comment from that expert makes my blood boil

[@c.m.169]

Or ask Americans who have had healthcare in other countries. And then the reverse - ask people from other countries that have experienced healthcare in America. Like my friend from Poland who came over here in the early 60s and went back to take care of family business in the late 90s and had a heart attack while there. She said its the best care she's ever had, no matter what country she's been in and it didn't cost her a thing.

[@Syzygy-21cm]

No - there's no such thing as "Healthcare Insurance" in most other countries - it's ALL provided by the via taxes - which are FAR less than health care insurance in the US. In other countries, there's no such thing as people without healthcare. EVERYONE gets healthcare.

[@themaskedman221]

He said, "If you start at France and move north, you tend to find better healthcare systems [in Europe]." Okay, but Italy was ranked #2 on your list, right after France. So maybe if we start at Italy and move north we wouldn't be so geographically disoriented.

[@enowilson]

Right. And what about Spain? We have the highest life expectancy rate in the world (at least top 3) and we have one of the best health care systems (pretty much like Italy). So maybe it's about Western Europe and then going up north.

[@themaskedman221]

​@@enowilson That's possible, and it would make perfect sense. The geographic proximity between all these countries all but guarantees many economic/political/social/cultural similarities.

[@panther7748]

He said that the list was misleading. Right at the beginning. He then proceeded to say that the countries north of France are actually better than France when it comes to healthcare.

[@tiagogomes3807]

Netherlands has a health system worse in everything than France so I wouldn't give that sentence much credit.

[@tiagogomes3807]

@@enowilson Japan still has Higher. And if you use that Metric, life expectancy at 40 you aren't up there in the top.

[@Vikinggirl1679]

The main problem in the U.S. healthcare in my opinion is greedy pig insurance and pharmaceutical companies. The pharmacutical companies keep drugs ridiculously high and out of reach for most people. The insurance companies want you to pay high unreachable prices but if you need them, they will fight you tooth and nail to NOT have to pay for your medical cost. They also routinely deny coverage for procedures and medicine some life saving. It's sickining..... Literally

[@abyouda167]

As an Egyptian person and I can remember when I was 18 and my dad passed away because he couldn't get a well treatment to save money for us to pay off private lessons and private lessons here in my country are common because we couldn't get good education we always take private lessons with the teachers and we pay a lot of money for that ..so I've been buckling down on improving myself and now I'm a fresh graduate and I got a college degree in engineering and I've worked on my English so hard so now I can say I'm fluent much better than the speakers in this video as a result I'm very proud of myself and I'll do my best to get a high band in my IELTS to go to one of these lovey countries which appreciate human beings

[@wolfecanada6726]

Well, it certainly is not the USA.

[@noahremnek3615]

Medicare for all!

[@programking655]

@@noahremnek3615 How about no

[@noahremnek3615]

@@programking655 why not? Get rid of the thugs that are the insurers and big pharma.

[@programking655]

@@noahremnek3615 Except they’re not “thugs”, that’s a ridiculous statement. Some of them are, most are not. Also, there’s this ridiculous notion that every country in the world has single-payer healthcare. That’s not true, only 3 do, Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan. So no, I’ll pass on single-payer.

[@noahremnek3615]

@@programking655 No plenty of countries have single payer. Those countries single payer works well. Every Brit I know likes their healthcare system.

[@bexyr]

Are all of them scared to nominate Italy? The first guy says that all the North European countries are on top of the chart but actually they place under Southern countries... their understanding of data is very encouraging

[@helenevoyer5317]

Or even mentioning Canada.

[@melodramatic7904]

"If you start at France and go northern, you get the best healthcare systems." Italy is literally number 2.

[@alexandrelarsac9115]

northern Italy is northern of southern France, so it works ..

[@g.n.7728]

Yes but there were also San Marino, Malta and Spain 😂 maybe north from the French Guyana ahah

[@patriciafeeley7997]

The thing other countries have in common is they are not greedy

[@ste6826]

Health care should be free to all citizens in every country.

[@metalvideos1961]

which means more taxes. nothing is free in this world.

[@Scruffiannat]

@@metalvideos1961 Assuming the gov taxed businesses around what they are paying for medical insurance, long term, in the states anyway, productivity gains from sick people working and economies of scale/bargaining power of a big hospital system against the medical supply/pharmaceutical industries would dwarf the expense to tax payers. The only real downside is some insurers would go bankrupt and pharma/medical supply industry would be slightly less profitable. So they would throw $$billions of dollars at candidates who would not implement social healthcare.

[@CallistaZM]

@@metalvideos1961 there have been multiple comparisons showing the amount of taxes paid in Universal Healthcare countries is less than the average out of pocket costs of healthcare in America. We'd all be saving a ton of money by supporting every person through taxes than by personally going bankrupt on our own problems.

[@Delimon007]

@@Scruffiannat businesses are already paying taxes, they release these statements constantly which you can check and verify only a select few businesses are not paying their taxes such as google/youtube for example who for some reason are allowed to lie and say they are losing money on when they clearly are not

[@Delimon007]

@@CallistaZM We would not be saving money at all. You are grossly underestimating the costs of these plans. They pay 60-70% of their income in overall taxes to pay for this, we pay half what they do on average in total taxes. Unless you are willing to fork over twice as much in taxes, stop talking about it.

[@zanizone3617]

Shows the world ranking on Healthcare. France is number one. Italy is number two. "you generally start from France and go up north..." Hold up. Are we ranking by data or by stereotypes?

[@lorenzobertin1025]

they read maps upside down...we hope they are best in medicine than geopolitics

[@georgeg7840]

As a prepper in Canada keeping his 83 year old diabetic + overweight mother alive with healthy food, I would say keep yourseves healthy before relying on the health care system…

[@LastCommodore]

In the USA, health care is deemed a privilege and not the human right that it is elsewhere.

[@kantbtamed1032]

“Regardless of your income this is probably the place you’d like to get your income” - that doctor. Excuse me sir, but I’d rather die than be trapped in insurmountable medical debt for 70 years.

[@jdb47games]

I would rather get both my income and healthcare in Switzerland. In so many ways that country comes out as one of the best run in the world.

[@PeBoVision]

I'm Canadian. Our system is far from perfect (although far more effcient than reported in US Media). No catastrophic health emergency (I am a senior citizen, I have had a few) has ever resulted in financial ruin. In fact, 2 open heart surgeries (the 2nd caused by an unrelated blood infection getting into my bovine aortic valve, resulted in 3 months hospitalisation). Neither cost me a penny out of pocket. (Oops. Full disclosure. I did receive a $25 Ambulance bill.) My employee benefits provided full-pay throughout, which means my bank account grew during my hospital stay (no food or fuel costs for 3 months so my pay only had to cover rent at home). My only experience with the American system is when a friend's mother in the latter stages of cancer was given Tylenol for pain, because that is all her insurance covered (we paid for her to receive opiates). Now, I understand that is anectdotal, and so I don't judge the entire system on that event, but it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth, and as a result, I hope that I never get sick in the US. I can't say that about any other Western nation. It means nothing to have the greatest health services on the planet, if they are reserved for those who can afford them. That is Capitalism on acid.

[@jessicaelliott9857]

The US media is obviously on the payroll of the drugs and insurance companies. They regularly trash uk healthcare too. I know which I prefer.

[@PeBoVision]

​@@jessicaelliott9857 Note that they only trash the systems with high user satisfaction. I guess we highlight their inadequacies at providing benefits of citizenship. (Because, Freedom!!!)

[@theloniousm4337]

As a Canadian that had recent encounters with the health care system - Canada has some issues. One of the biggest issues is the rate of pay that GPs and specialists can earn in the US. As such the doctors that remain in Canada tend to be either young and inexperienced or educated in some third world country that then emigrates to Canada and passes whatever lax compliance requirements are in place. In short, the quality of physicians in Canada ...... is poor. And this isn't even touching on the issues of excessive use of the system because it is zero cost. In almost any scenario, zero cost means abuse of privilege.

[@PeBoVision]

@@theloniousm4337 I disagree completely. I rarely used the system until health issues related to my age began to pop up. I only had one doctor ever leave his practice, and it wasn't to move to the US and become rich, it was so that he could work on addiction research right here in Toronto. Not everyone is motivated by money, and your suggestion that the best doctor's leave is anecdotal at best,, with little or no statistical data to support it. When socialized medicine was introduced, the established system warned there would be a mass exodus of doctors and technicians. Never happened...just boogie man bs. (Consider that working as a doctor in Canada, malpractice suits are uncommon. Ask a US doctor what he'd save in insurance with that.

[@gambit0913]

@@theloniousm4337 This is not true as all Doctors who want to work in Canada have to pass the same requirements to practice here...i agree on lower pay issues but there is a litany of issues that plague the system....the biggest being resistance to change from management and political football by conservatives funded by the right wing from the South of the border (this is happening now)

[@g.n.7728]

France , Italy and Spain is generally quite good (even though there are differences between the regions of the same country ).Italy has the highly percentage of old people of Europe and has the highest life expectancy of Europe with Spain. France and Italy have the high numeber of people over 100 of Europe. So In the European Union the France, the Itaian and the Spanish could be consider good universal health systems .

[@lovelytalk7941]

and all three countries are the best to live in term of every lifestyle aspects from food to sun, wine, leisure and social life (... I am biased though I am a French from the south ahaha ;))

[@SuperSrjones]

Australia - I am 71, I pay private health insurance, I go to private hospitals by choice, but my last stay in hospital cost me $500 co pay, I cannot get a hotel room for that two week stay for that money. My private room had an ensuite, fridge, tv, free wifi and private access to a lovely garden just outside my room. Care was fantastic from all staff, meals were excellent. My hearing aids cost me nothing, Glasses are cheap, Pharmaceuticals are $7.00 per script with a top safety limit after which they are free. My Doctor (GP) bulk bills the government for my visits. My specialists bulk billed the government, I paid nothing.

[@amnesicstranger]

You know what, I have the chance to live in France, I don't think many people acknowledge this but this is truly a chance. I am beneficing from a healthcare system where I (as a student), for the most part, don't have to pay anything whatsoever, at all, and I am not afraid to say that this is a privilege. As a kid, I always had this dream vision of the US, like "wow, you can achieve everything over there", there was this ting around the American dream, like "be whoever you want to be, thrive for it", and then I grew up and figured out that this really wasn't it. The supposed "best country on earth" is actually really (I mean REALLY) flawed, and so I am grateful to be where I am now. I don't agree with the last comment by the way, that's just a way to feel better about the system you are in really.

[@trizzybones]

Every country has flaws, most Americans have health insurance and there are programs for those who don't. But many of those people don't sign up for it, and in general our system is more expensive, although usually the consumer doesn't see those added costs. America still has more opportunities than anywhere else, this is true by the numbers, but that doesn't mean there aren't excellent opportunities elsewhere. It really depends on what you're looking for. There's been an overreaction by the media and by Americans, especially younger Americans, to counter the earlier era of American exceptionalism by constantly pointing out our flaws. For most Americans, that doesn't represent our experience of living here, the media is just incentivized to amplify the loudest and craziest voices. The guy's last comment wasn't to make anyone feel better about anything, he is an expert in public health policy and made many critical comments during the video, he is saying what is true, which is that America has the best doctors and hospitals in the world, the caveat is that there is a small percentage of the population that doesn't have access to that, and there is also excellent healthcare in certain other countries.

[@JacobBax]

@@trizzybones "most Americans have health insurance" all should have that.

[@trizzybones]

@@JacobBax I agree, I support universal healthcare

[@terryjkhn5725]

@@trizzybones every country claims to have best specialist doctors ,just like Australia in state of Queensland they have the best Neuro Surgeons an cario surgeons in the world under Medicare you don't have to pay anything an state of the art equipment soon every prescribed medication will be free in Australia at the moment $5.60 for medication ,free medical should be essential for democratic countries , but the most interesting weird fact is France has a welfare system payments that pay unemployed people upto 4 years 180000 euros per year with universal health care.

[@trizzybones]

@@terryjkhn5725 Australia has an excellent healthcare system, I actually think it would be a decent model for the US along with a few other countries. But as a whole, the US has the best doctors and medical facilities. It's not just a claim, it's based on the research that's done here and the amount of funding.

[@peterescalante1207]

In my opinion, many of these experts demonstrate the true barriers to healthcare reform - attitude. This group accepts the "normality" and "suitability" of the American health care system to our unique cultural and economic circumstances. In their eyes - it's too hard to change the system without obvious quantifiable benefits even though dozens of countries have already done so quite successfully! This paralysis of decision-making and policy execution is endemic in the United States from the very bottom layers to the very top. It appears that there are so many entities (both public and private) that have a veto over truly beneficial changes that we have become a laughing-stock of the world. Only those individuals or entities that break out of that mold are revolutionizing change - Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, Mark Cuban, Steve Jobs, Apple, Google, Jeff Bezos, Amazon, etc. We need more doers and visionaries than skeptics to bring about health-care reform.

[@COPKALA]

I recon that none of the interviewed persons wanted to be tagged as 'socialist', which is a real thing in US (where culture is so low that the word has no meaning) and they could not really express their full point of view....

[@nigelmansfield3011]

I'm quite happy with the balance we have achieved in Australia. It's not perfect but it is universal. Like 40% of my fellow citizens, I also have private health care which is cheap and makes up for any deficiencies. Just recently I was treated in a public hospital. Like many, I charged it to my health fund. I got treated no differently than if I were having the service free but the extra funds help the hospital buy new, up to date equipment etc.

[@kevinquinn7645]

I've been in a similar situation and chose not to charge it to my health fund. Public hospitals effectively double dip when they charge pubic patients because they are paid by both the government and the health fund. The public hospitals guilt private patients into paying, even though patients are entitled to free treatment and have contributed to the system via the Medicare levy. Private health care payments to public hospitals contributes to the increasing cost of private health insurance making it less affordable for people at the margin.

[@telaandias3531]

it's still not a great system for people who need specialist care, or who have disabilities, we can't even secure dental and mental health into medicare

[@wyattjosh283]

@@telaandias3531 Dental is a great example of something that is adds a lot to the total cost of universal healthcare without having a significant impact on health outcomes.

[@telaandias3531]

@@wyattjosh283 look at ABC news, plenty of stories from people having to put off their or their kids dental care because of the extra cost burden, who now have extensive conditions that would have been prevented if they could just have 2 yearly check ups a year... how out of touch you must be.

[@wyattjosh283]

@@telaandias3531 I'm out of touch because I believe Dental shouldn't be included on Medicare so as it ensure it remains sustainable. Hahahahaha, you can't be serious. Where will the extra billions of dollars come from exactly? Do you think money comes from thin air?

[@jaska145]

About 20 years ago I fell with my bicycle and broke my ankle. Called an ambulance that took me to the hospital where the doctor said it need to be operated. This happened late in the evening. I stayed the night in the hospital. Next day they operated the ankle. Added some metal plates and screws and finally put a cast. All this happened in 12 hours. It cost me 0 euros. 2 months later I was walking. A month later running and skiing. Perfect job done by universal health care. Now living in the USA. Last spring my wife broke her ankle. Much worse than I did 20 years ago. Went to ER. They x-rayed it and told it needs a surgery but did nothing. Just sent us home. We had to start calling orthopedist. Got an appointment (two days later) and visited the doctor. He said that it needs to be operated but first an MRI need to be taken. Waited few days the insurance to show green light. Then waited another 8 days for the insurance to show green light for the surgery. My wife hard to lay down for two weeks in pain at her bed to the surgery that I got in 10 hours. During that 2 weeks we had to visit four time to see a doctor, MRI or something similar. All this costed $40 000, Insurance covered most of it, but we had to pay $2500. During the process we needed to fill dozens of papers and spend hours after hours for the process (going back and forth, waiting on the phone). So, I just want to say this this arrogant last person in this video. The USA is a last place where I ever want to get a treatment. The US health care system is so bad compared to the EU.

[@jujuplayboy]

-Who has the world's best health-care system ? -The only good answer is "not the U.S."

[@s.s.s4269]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@de4130]

Most people know about the infamous US healthcare system. Better not get sick there to cuz $$$$$$ no universal healthcare

[@wagnercampos9080]

In Brazil we had a writer that lived in Virginia and criticized one hard way public health system of Brazil, following thieir far right liberalism ideologies, but when he fell down by heart disease, he can't pay for threatment in US and came to Brazil to be threaded by Brazilian health system with no fee.

[@act_sion]

Who?

[@wagnercampos9080]

@@act_sion Olavo de Carvalho

[@pshehan1]

I am an Australian who lived worked in the US in the 80s. My employer, a university covered my health insurance and fortunately I had no health problems. In Australia we have a universal health system with a mix of private and public providers. I never saw the need for taking out private insurance and am satisfied with the health services I have received. I am still in contact with a friend from Syracuse who is now a university department head in Utah. She has concerns about health care in the US, especially as she has a now adult son who has a disability. Too many Americans seem to think that 'socialised medicine' is the first step on the way to the gulag. Just today I saw a news item that Republicans in congress have denied legislation that would have capped what diabetics pay for insulin. We also have a pharmaceutical benefits scheme which subsidises medicines and caps what drug companies can charge. I am now retired but was in medical research, including seven years in a pharmacy research and I understand the costs involved in developing new drugs so am not anti 'big pharma', but in the absence of regulation they will charge what they can get away with. In a civilised society, health care is a right and not a privilege. None of us gets to choose our parents wisely, is immune from losing in the genetics lottery, or from falling on hard times.

[@cesarbarrigoscandenas7416]

Australia is not a Universal healthcare system. Any interest national student is out of the system and need to have An OSCH for their entire Stancy for about 1500$ a year that cover just about the gp and a few other things. The system of private clinics for gp's is an absolute disaster compared with England, France or Spain.

[@tonydoggett7627]

@@cesarbarrigoscandenas7416 but if you’re a international student there’s a fee. If you’re an Australian citizen none.

[@cesarbarrigoscandenas7416]

@@tonydoggett7627 exactly, Universal means anyone who lives in the country, legally or illegally, is covered by a public and free of charge system. So Australia isn't. It has a good public system but is not universal. Don't arguing if is better or not but is not Universal. I'll be living in Australia for 10 years and the system is good enough but coming from Spain, I really think Australia can do it better. International students are treat as residents for everything, tax, normatives, laws etc... Except for any kind of welfare including health. Ohhhh and the fee.... $500 just for the admision in the emergency room.

[@tonydoggett7627]

@@cesarbarrigoscandenas7416 10 years and still a student? Edit: -Interest to International -Stancy to stay -covers

[@cesarbarrigoscandenas7416]

@@tonydoggett7627 about to pass to resident. Didn't know I wanted to stay until I found an amazing Aussie haha

[@jacksmith5399]

In Britain, the NHS is absolutely fantastic when it works as intended. I have never been faced with a health problem and had to worry in the slightest about any lasting negative effects of using the healthcare system, financial or otherwise. I can go to a&e, an urgent care centre, a walk in centre, or get an appointment with a gp at any time absolutely free, whatever it is that I need. The problem now is when you have a government run and owned healthcare system, it is totally susceptible to government incompetence, which unfortunately we currently have a lot of. A chronic lack of investment over the last decade or so has left us with crumbling and understaffed hospitals, overworked staff, growing waiting lists, etc. not to mention leaving the EU has left us with a massive workforce gap. This will all take years to rectify. But faced with a choice of this or any form of private healthcare system where I am entitled to better healthcare than a homeless man, and I’ll take a struggling NHS any day.

[@andyleighton6969]

The question is not which country has the best healthcare, it is what is the best healthcare SYSTEM. Without a doubt it is some version of universal social insurance, road-tested and refined since Bismarck first introduced it in 1884 and underpinning the performance of all the best performing countries. Each country differs in detail, but the basic principles are held in common.

[@user-jg9rp5qf4g]

I think another thing worth mentioning is that although taxes are somewhat similar, the US has an extremely high rate of military expenditure. Based on 2020 data, the US spent $778 billion on defense costs. This is greater than the next 10 countries with the highest expenditures COMBINED. That is, the US spends more on defense than all of China, India, Russia, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Australia COMBINED. The proportional distribution of funding is different, with less %GPD for healthcare expenditures. This translates to the inability to subsidize basic health services in addition to other services as well. The US healthcare system, like one of the experts said, reflects its social values. Any degree, no matter how small, of socialized medicine, has also become politicized to a point of paralysis. Healthcare change will not occur until this gridlock loosens, which is unlikely for the foreseeable future given how hostile the US political landscape has become (particularly in recent years).

[@NeuroRando]

Military spending in the US compared to total government spending isn’t that much at all though

[@tbatallen]

The thing is the US spends 16% of GDP on healthcare, most developed countries spend around 9-12%. Yet despite that the US system on key metrics performs terribly, worst life expectancy than peers, high rate of medical bankruptcies and millions without healthcare coverage. It’s a very inefficient model.

[@NeuroRando]

@@tbatallen well when you consider we have one of the highest life expectancy rates when you exclude motor vehicle related deaths, and the highest cancer survival rates, those metrics aren’t as bad as they seem

[@tiagozadra4307]

@@tbatallen the us doesn't have the highest life expectancy, but it has spectacular survival rates. The thing is, there's a lot more unhealthy people in the US compared to any country in Europe. The fact that they live so long with an unhealthy lifestyle is notable. Put those people in Europe and they probably won't live as long.

[@tbatallen]

@@NeuroRando 16% of GDP to achieve something others do with 60% of the same resources whilst also failing to provide universal healthcare is a pretty damning verdict of the US healthcare model.

[@pdxmack]

I work in the US system. The most telling tale of inefficiency is that it is less expensive to contact out services to foreign countries that have universal Healthcare.

[@chrisnewman7281]

The question depends on who’s being asked … if you’re in the United States and you ask one of the private health providers that say that America is the greatest health system the most profitable and never fails to deliver on that promise

[@geeache1891]

The last phrase says all about the attitude towards healthcare: ...this is the country where you want to get your healthcare. Non native English speaker but I would say 'receive' over 'get'. That combined with the "your' in ' your healthcare' shows the brain-embedded or even desired customer relationship towards healthcare. If that doesn't change, well... Was this a deliberate end by makers of the video?

[@erickechegar]

medicare for all - thats all

[@bawamba2]

Medicare for all doesn't help if you don't have concepts for the provider side (prices, Outcomes, amounts). Otherwise expenses will explode. Good health care systems do this. All in different ways. Mostly subject to frequent debate and reform.

[@programking655]

How about no

[@creativestudios3d]

The first factor should be: Accessibility. Most of Europe views healthcare as a human right, like higher education. There is little point to have a 'great' healthcare system that few people can afford. In most of Europe (Even in the poorest countries), there is universal healthcare, usually based on your income (With homeless/people below poverty getting it for free) and one can just walk into a hospital. Yes, there are waiting lists for some things and no, it's not always the most advanced state of the art '2000 USD a pill' treatment. But it's there, you never have to worry about not being able to access healthcare.

[@act_sion]

In Europe you are a patient on the same you are a consumer

[@conmereth]

It would've been nice to hear more about personal cost and accessibility, it doesn't matter if your country has great healthcare if you can't afford it.

[@jennytmaher]

In Australia all care provided in a public hospital is free of cost to the user. You go to have surgery and nobody mentions money. That is available to all Australian citizens or permanent residents. You can take out private health insurance and go to a private hospital, which will mean no waiting time for non urgent surgery. You'll have the same surgeon you'd have had in the public system. You'll have out of pocket charges for the initial visit to the surgeon in their private rooms, that will mostly amount to between $200 and $300. They often don't charge pensioners that extra charge. Out of hospital care is subsidized. Some doctors accept the amount the government pays, others charge extra, which is an out of pocket charge to the user. Most prescription medication is also highly subsidized. An asthma inhaler is less than $10. Taxpayers pay a maximum of under $40 for most prescriptions, and pensioners and other low income earners pay $6.80. There's also a maximum amount that you spend on medication in any calendar year, so that people who need a lot of medication have the cost limited. When taxpayers reach their limit, which is less than $1500 their prescription cost goes down to $6.80, and when low income earners, including pensioners reach their limit, which is less than $250, they don't pay anything for prescriptions for the rest of the year. Nobody who gets sick or injured has to worry about what it will cost.

[@gerdforster883]

About personal cost, an example from Germany: I'm currently being treated for Burkitt lymphoma. The treatment is six blocks of chemotherapy in hospital (each about a week long), with two to three weeks of recovery at home in between (with at least one check-up per week). I've had several operations over the cause of my treatment. I pay 280 Euros co-pay for the whole thing. Ten Euros per night at the hospital, capped at 28 nights per year. I could have applied for another reduction, but I wasn't up for the paperwork. For the first six weeks, I got my usual salary, now my insurer pays me 60% of my wage instead. Once therapy is done, I will be sent to rehabilitation for about four weeks. That will be next year, so I'll probably have to pay the co-pay again. But nothing else.

[@unhappydutch]

This is a typical video of scientists looking at their own American and other health systems from their own societal frames of reference and then coming to the conclusion that there is no answer to it or that this answer depends on your own expectations. It also shows how, in this case the intellectual elite, look at society from their ivory tower. There are so many sides to the matter that looking is a pointless excursion. Just like this video is a waste of time watching and commenting on it. ;(

[@CaptLoquaLacon]

I'd actually like to see a bracket system done with experts from a group of countries, but no expert would be allowed to vote for their own country. That would make an interesting video

[@theparanoidandroid3583]

I don't understand your comment that because there are many sides you shouldn't look at them. Surely because there are many sides you should look all the more?

[@SIP100Ka]

As a french, I'd like to say that everytime i've been to the doctor I didn't pay anything, a while back I had to go to the doctor to check if everything was fine or not, after that my doctor gave me a prescription to do an x-ray scanner to see if my back had any problem cause it's been 7 years that I had pain in my middle to lower back, after that I went back to my doctor with the results and she gave me another prescription to got to the physical therapist to get my back straight after 6 months of exercising, my back was fine and I could run normally without taking a break every 5sec to bare the pain on my back

[@Delimon007]

You are paying, do you understand how much you are paying in taxes? What is your income tax? What is your sales tax? What are you paying in property tax? All of your taxes should be added up annually to see how much you are paying. You didn't pay "nothing."

[@fredrickzoller6772]

@@Delimon007 yes there are taxes… but other countries have also taxes. The taxes in France are not the highest in the world. And if you are below a certain income, you pay a little taxes compared to the medical treatment you can receive. You can literally pay nothing (except global taxes such as VAT) to be treated of a cancer for exemple.

[@thunderbolt8409]

@@Delimon007 in France healtcare system spent are called "charges social" we can see it on our pay sheet and it's % of the salary (after a certain amount of salary the % is block) in fact 22% of your salary go for retirement system healthcare or unemployment system

[@ryancappo]

I am paying health insurance premiums month after month in the US, and even with those thousands of dollars a year, I would still get a bill from every doctor, X-Ray, and PT because the insurance didn't cover it all or the doctor ended up being "out-of-network"... I would gladly pay whatever the French do in income taxes to not have to go through 50 different options for insurance each and every year and have no bills if you do need care. In the US, that would probably be 1st doctor - $100 USD X-Ray - $1200 USD Return visit to doctor - $100 USD PT - $75 USD each visit $400USD/month premium (if you are self-employed) And that is a pretty non-intensive, easy case.

[@thunderbolt8409]

@@ryancappo other point on France prices are regulated You will never see an X ray at 1200 bucks Secu give a price and 95% of doctor follow the price Same for drugs Did you know how much cost insuline in France ? 12€/bottle 24€ for 5 pen Reimburse at 65% by secu but in fac many diabetics are 100% reimbursed and paid nothing And it's the same company that produce your US insuline

[@sajadjb]

Maybe the quality of the hospital is not good, but in my opinion, Iranian doctors and surgeons are really wonderful and intelligent.

[@mikeikesan]

The U.S. health care system made me scared to visit a doctor in the U.S. That changed while living in japan, had to call an ambulance to the hospital plus tests cost me $40.

[@Commandos9]

ridiculous enough that I find myself judging the health systems of other countries by US experts alone. Then it's funny how Italy is after France, but it is said that health only improves from France going up to Northern Europe.

[@programking655]

Yeah, except those US experts are every bit as informed as experts from around the world.

[@Commandos9]

@@programking655 the problem is that they can experts as much as you want, but their point of view is probably flawed by dealing only with the US health care system. To make a sensible judgment, you should rely on the judgment of doctors of different nationalities, from the United States to Japan via India, Australia and Europe.

[@swanpride]

@@programking655 They aren't. They look at this with their own American Bias. And naturally the pre-selected healthcare systems. Also, I am kind of sick of the "doesn't work in every culture" argument. Yeah, you must build on something, but the US has the theoretical advantage that it could take the best of all healthcare systems and combine its own...but it doesn't bother.

[@act_sion]

It is a generalization, no need to be offended

[@dawoodwaris]

There is a tiny state in India named Kerala that's making wonders in healthcare and is the first in the world that achieved universal health coverage laid down by WHO.

[@highlanderthegreat]

the best health care system is a system where anyone who needs to can walk into a doctors office of the ER and be seen or be treated without any worry about how much it costs and the patient is taken care of/treated and is able to make a recovery and go home.. even if they are homeless or a mulit millionair....

[@bonniegaither3994]

We don’t have healthcare, we have sick care. You have to realize that most other industrialized nations also have better quality food, water, air, infrastructure, social networks (friends, etc). Whereas , here the US, we ‘value’ our isolationism: cars, big houses, etc.

[@margaretvassallo5015]

I’ve never understood why healthcare in the US is tied to employment. Is there an actual reason.

[@Ausecko1]

Because that's the best way to scare employees into never fighting for their rights? If your employment is a prerequisite for your health, why would you do anything to put it at risk?

[@ShawFujikawa]

Employer health insurance started in the mid-20th century as an incentive for new workers to join up, instead of paying for their own insurance. By itself this isn’t a bad thing - if you have _reasonable_ alternative insurance providers to choose from, you’re not at risk if you lose your job, because getting covered again is easy. Years later, now that the insurance market in America has become so profit-driven and anti-consumer, if you cannot afford the premiums and aren’t covered by Medicaid, then you basically do not have reasonable alternatives, so you are just stuck with employer insurance with no way to safely leave.

[@Delimon007]

It's not? You can get your own.

[@jessicaelliott9857]

It's so people are too scared to leave.

[@johnmininger7472]

Ignoring the cynical comments, Shaw Fujikawa's comment is accurate. During WWII, pay raises were essentially frozen so employers started offering healthcare as a benefit to attract workers. It wasn't a new idea but it was one that suddenly because advantageous to implement. Right after that the IRS made the deal sweeter by making it tax free. Most people didn't have health care insurance at the time and didn't feel it was worthwhile. It was a nice benefit but health care was relatively inexpensive. Since then it has just become a standard and expected benefit. Health care evolved differently in Europe in the wake of WWII primarily because the government was the only entity that could effectively implement it. Yes, it does create 'job lock', especially if you want to leave your job and don't have an alternative or if you want to retire and can't afford to supplement Medicare.

[@grantsmythe8625]

France is a wonderful country.

[@minihaive]

@@dannnyboyyyyy7877 say what you want about it but it costs me 7 euros to go to any doctor i want. can't say the same for the us. so even though it has flaws at least i won't go broke from needing healthcare.

[@Delimon007]

@@minihaive it doesn't cost you 7 euros you're paying 60-70% of your income on taxes, I'm not sure why you don't understand this. You're paying multiple different taxes which funds this system.

[@OttonFilms]

@@Delimon007 yup, and it's a huge misconception that the regular US citizen goes "broke". Only 1% of the population had medical debt surpassing $10,000. Insurance, and the quality that you pay for is literally the same as Europeans being taxed extremely heavily for having good healthcare. Have good insurance and you'll be paying very little during your visits to the Dr. An MRI cost me $10 with my insurance. Not being insurared is a different story, but not paying your taxes is illegal, not having insurance is not.

[@anthonywatts2033]

Healthcare CAN be improved in theUS., if it starts with universality. Once everyone gets basic care,(not connected to employment) the expectations of care will slowly increase and so all outcomes increase. As for cost: as soon as insurance becomes optional, watch premiums and costs plummet.

[@inscrutablemungus4143]

1:22 I've never been to Singapore, but I can already tell you that it has a better healthcare system than the US. This whole bracket thing can be summarized as "People who never have to worry about affording healthcare vote on healthcare systems". Ask any poor person if they'd rather be poor in the US or poor in Sweden from purely a healthcare standpoint. They'd choose Sweden without question.

[@fmartin09]

In the US we're just blind. Our cost of healthcare and medicine is the highest in the World. The main issue is that healthcare here is a business and not a right. I got sick (have good healthcare which cost me over 600/month) with UC and is costing my insurance company thousands of dollars and my doctors make me feel like they don't really care. I talked to a good friend with the same condition in Spain and it cost him $0 zero (universal healthcare) and they figured out a great course of action that fixed his UC (hasn't had any flares in 10 years.) To be fair, Spain spends about 10% of their GDP in healthcare while we spend a fraction of that... Why can we figure this out?

[@roymaddocks3184]

The US pays about 18% of gdp for its healthcare system, 50% more than the average of G7 countries

[@roymaddocks3184]

Oops. The US healthcare system costs 18% of gdp, not 10%

[@archibaldhadock5811]

Question: for what reason or circumstance have they not talked about the Spanish health system? We have a long life expectancy above France, Great Britain or Germany, and our system is also considered one of the best in the world.

[@c.m.169]

I agree. I've heard great things about Spain's healthcare, as well as Poland's.

[@michinwaygook3684]

I scoff when Americans talk about waiting times. My American friend was diagnosed with a heart defect, that diagnosis leaving him with a $16,000 bill he will never pay, and it took Medicare two years to approve his heart surgery. Even people waiting on elective surgeries (i.e. removing a mole) in Canada generally aren't waiting two years, and if you need medically life saving surgery you aren't waiting at all. To reiterate my point my dad had to get stents put in his neck. He was admitted to ICU the same day the diagnosis was made and he was put on 24 hour watch by nurses. The reason he didn't get surgery the same day was because he had to be put on medication first that was necessary for the surgery.

[@jeanniewarken5822]

I am English. . Me and my family are fortunate enough to be net contributors to the NHS via our income taxes. So we have been lucky to have good health and no major health incidents... we are very happy therefore to be paying in more than we take out.

[@betsyrocks]

With all it's flaws, I still love my NHS 💔

[@noahremnek3615]

We need the NHS. No the NHS doesn’t have flaws. Our healthcare system does.

[@daveboy1247]

there isn't a UK healthcare system as Scotland has it's own health care system which is nothing to do with the United Kingdom and it's arguably the best in the world.

[@daveboy1247]

@@noahremnek3615 there isn't a UK healthcare system as Scotland has it's own health care system which is nothing to do with the United Kingdom and it's arguably the best in the world.

[@damdefensor]

it is funny how the "expert" said that going from france to the north you are gonna find the best health systems, and is just the opposite, Spain, Andorra, Italy and Malta have better health sytems than the rest of europe, so funny.

[@kevinstfort]

They are all great. But I was surprised they left out the south, especially Spain and Portugal.

[@creatrotera]

And Singapore

[@damdefensor]

@@creatrotera No, Singapore has a great health system, but he was talking on that segment about european countries.

[@michaellazar4855]

I think a hybrid system would work best in the US. To establish baseline insurance so that people have true choice: 1. Expand Medicare to cover everyone with the 20/80 split with hospital care and outpatient care with a cap of $15,000 per person/$25,000 per family unit. 2. Medicare negotiates all doctor/hospital/drug prices. Doctors can either accept the rate, or if they want to charge more, they may, but must advertise the price difference and show the customer what they will be paying prior to service. 3. People pay the rate when they get medical service. Health insurance will act here, if a person chooses to have it. 4. All billing must be presented prior to treatment, and all billing must be consolidated by the site of care. 5. Establish a nationwide medical database so any healthcare agent in the US can access a patient's medical history without needing to transfer documents. This will have insurance information. To establish strong, and competitive insurance agencies: 1. Insurance covers what Medicare does not and acts supplemental. 2. Anyone who wants insurance is entitled to it. It will cost 7% of income, regardless of income or the premium, whichever is cheaper. 3. All insurance is purchased through an exchange and all policies are available to everyone. Employers must cover 50% of cost but may cover more, and may purchase extra supplements for their employees. 4. Insurance must spend 88% of premiums on healthcare and administration costs cannot exceed 2%. 5. Establish max out of pocket costs of $1000 per person, $2000 per family unit. 6. Billing must be transparent. 7. There are no networks, coverage is the same for all services. Insurers may have their own facilities or own wings in universal facilities and they may reduce costs for their customers if they wish. To supplement innovation in medicine and pharmaceuticals: 1. Create University/Corporation partnerships to research medical advancements similar to ARPA-E. 2. Make available more funding for fundamental research in medicine and health. 3. Make funding available to scale manufacturing of important drugs, and use the government to create a market for high risk, high cost drugs that otherwise will not be profitable. To help with supply of medical personnel: 1. Fund medical degrees for all qualified candidates, similar to STEM post graduate degrees. Students may practice under the supervision of a physician. 2. Allow nurse practitioners to fully perform family medicine, similar as a physician now. 3. In areas where medical facilities and access to doctors is limited, government can open offices to help meet the demand of the rural populations. Use traveling clinics. Something like this allows free market that Americans like, but also puts restraints on the system to control costs, to make costs transparent, and to end the silly games. It also establishes the right to healthcare in the country and eliminates the possibility of crippling debt and bankruptcy. There is lots of funding, those obviously need to be paid for, but we can afford it.

[@kevinfisher1345]

Well done mate. You just completely bankrupted the entire industry. Smh! First those people on Medicare can not even afford healthcare. Medical facilities could not stay in business. Even non-profit facilities loss money on many of its services for medicare patients. 2. Medicare already dictates the prices to a degree. Medicare has already been a major factor in keeping the healthcare costs down as low as it can. But even Medicare has had to increase the rates, as it knows the industry could not survive if it did not. A significant amount of insurance companies quite often have contracted negotiated payments based on Medicare costs. For example it might say will pay 120% Medicare inpatient rate for such n such inpatient stay and 130% Medicare inpatient rate for normal deliveries and 135% Medicare inpatient rates for C-section deliveries. Etc 4. You just illustrated how ignorant you are of this topic. While sometimes medical providers will know what all services will need to be done and what all those costs would be. Quite often that is not the case at all. AND your proposal is actually illegal. Medical providers are not even allowed to entertain or even think about costs PRIOR to treatments. Second 2. Congrats you just bankrupted the govt as well. 7% of an increase in taxes I suppose is what you are trying to say. Sorry but that would not cover it at all. Nowhere close. Especially now that you have shunted everyone onto Medicare, which the govt has been forecasting for decades now is unsustainable as it is. Projected to last for roughly another decade from now last I heard (although that was several years ago now). It would take a ~7% increase in taxes just to cover those already on Medicare. And you expect it to cover everyone LMAO. How about doubling your taxes would be a start. But what I find funny, is you did not even address the biggest issue with healthcare costs at all. Nor the most profitable of the entire industry (and one of the highest profits for all industries). Nor the tons of money they spend on lobbyists ever year. Big Pharma. So many other issues that your suggestions has not even come close to addressing that contributes to US high healthcare costs. Such as low Dr to patient ratio, or all the reasons WHY there is such a low Dr to patient ratio in US to begin with. Even after recruiting tons of foreigners.

[@michaellazar4855]

@@kevinfisher1345 There is certainly a need to eliminate the middle men, regulate drug advertising, and other activities that exist that do not add value to our healthcare, but these are weeded out with lowering the administrative costs. Medicare has administrative costs of no more than 2%, and really efficient systems can achieve closer to 1%. There are at least 30 nations who can do it, so it can be done. If regulating the industry and driving down the cost of healthcare caused the industry to go bankrupt, then that would have already happened. We are the only country that does not adequately regulate the healthcare industry, and if we finally match our peers, the industry will be fine. We pay 17-18% of our GDP towards healthcare while the average country can do about 11%. There is no reason we cannot do the same, or since we are a free market country, we should be able to get that down to 10% or even 9% of GDP. That would be about $2.2 to $2.5 trillion of costs each year, far less than what we pay now. There is no question the model has to change. Businesses may complain about that, but we are talking about healthcare reform because the business model is not working for the consumer. I am certainly OK with businesses being able to make money, but I am not OK with it if the costs are so far out of control that people cannot afford healthcare. Healthcare insurance does a terrible job negotiating rates. There is a NY Times article that demonstrates just how different the price can be for one procedure at the same hospital using different insurers. Medicare is the lowest, and some insurance is 5x to 10x more expensive. Between commercial insurers, there can be large gaps too. So they are NOT negotiating well on our behalf. I would even say if they are paying $1 more than Medicare, they are paying too much. Also, know that Medicare is not Medicaid, I think you are confusing the two. Medicaid is healthcare for the poor, and it underpays (but ironically, it probably pays on par with other Western nations). On the cost of a procedure, these should be known, unless if the procedure is not planned. If you wanted a car, you ask the dealership what the price is for the options you want, and before you buy, there is a price. Why should that be different in healthcare? Most procedures are well know and rarely deviate. For example, the hospital should be able to tell you that an MRI costs $836. That is the price. In my system, Medicare would negotiate that price and would cover 80% of that, then your insurance would cover let's say 16% and you would pay 4% of that. It is that simple, but the industry knows that it can make much more money obscuring the prices, and we let them get away with it. It can be done. Everyone else has figured it out, so the problem is with us, not the remedy.

[@MichaelGGarry]

@@kevinfisher1345 "Medical facilities could not stay in business" Well there's your first problem - they shouldn't BE a business. They are a SERVICE.

[@kevinfisher1345]

@@MichaelGGarry Mate you do not listen very well do you? You did not listen to the experts in this video and you clearly did not listen to me at all. Middle men? Whom are the middle men? Who ever claimed that it can not be done? Of course it can be done, but it can not be done by simply trying to incorporate one countries system into the US entirely different culture and economy. It would be much more complex than that. I do agree with you however that the model needs to be changed. I have been saying for decades that the entire industry needs to be redone from the ground up. Anyone that knows anything about this topic would also agree with you. This is nothing new and has been known for decades. You also did not listen to me when I told you that Medicare dictates the rates. It is not the healthcare insurance companies that do this (or only on a minor scale). That is done by the medical providers with Medicare keeping it in check as best as it can. There has been several government departments that has reported on this. Such as GAO, Dept HHS, and others. Medicare itself is unsustainable. Again nothing new and has been reported about for decades now. Government Medicare spending doubled for example during the Bush administration and in 2007, it was reported that Medicare was still unsustainable .. and it still is today. If it was not for Medicare, the healthcare costs would have been significantly higher today than what it is now, and even Medicare has had to raise its rates. So because YOU do not understand what business means, that is _my_ problem. Smh hard!! Oh my lord mate, seriously? business: [noun] a usually commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood :trade, Non-profit business is still a business. A lot of non-profit charity organizations are still a business. A government owned entity that provides a service (ie power company, postal, phone company, etc) is still a business. The employees are in that line work as a means of their livelihood. They are paid. Those services must also purchase items (equipment, supplies, etc) and sell them to its customers. Regardless if that payment is in the form of direct charges or via taxes. It is still a service that is provided to a customer. US is NOT a socialism or communist form of govt, so it must be collected and paid for its services somehow. Any and all healthcare providers would not be able to function without being in business. Regardless if they make a profit or are a non-profit. They must also pay for its expenses somehow mate. It is that simple. How come you are failing to grasp such a simple basic concept? And as I already told you, you would need to at least double the amount of taxes and that likely still might not be enough. "For example, the hospital should be able to tell you that an MRI costs $836." Yes and it can do that, but what it can NOT do is tell you right away before even trying to diagnose a patient is IF they will need to even perform an MRI. Again you are just showing your ignorance on how such a system works (and even basic common sense). Speaking of MRI, I could tell you a story. But to keep it brief, the heart of the story was back in late 90's a non-profit hospital I worked for had $1.2 million insurance policy JUST on their MRI. That covered MRI machine itself, radiology techs, liability, everything. But it would not have been nearly as high if it did not need to cover for liability. Which imho medical providers should not have too, as they should not be sued imho unless it was done purposefully. In other words to answer the question about middle men, imho the only middle men is US citizens themselves which has added to and compounded the high US healthcare costs. US citizens and all they have asked for or demanded is a part of the problem. In so many various ways and on so many different levels. Just one small part of it all. You failed to address that at all in your suggestion to btw. You are trying to fix a complex problem when it is clear you do not fully understand the basics in how it works and operates.

[@gina2838]

Wow how complicated just pay for everyone to get healthcare.

[@fookdatchit]

As a 60 yr old Englishman living in Spain, I pay USD$88 per month, with no deductibles. And I can use either, private or national health care systems. I prefer the national because they treat people like patients and not customers. And its a 5 minute walk to the clinic.