Socialized Medicine

Alcott published a thread on his not ever wanting to go back to a doctor's office and endure our current health care insurance system. It is messy to say the least.

As some of you know I am currently in Prague, Czech Republic. Because of the length of time I will be here I have to buy Czech health insurance for the final four months. It is a long story and I won't go into the reasons for this as they are unimportant in the context of this thread.

Medical insurance and medical care is socialized here. Every employers must carry health insurance on all their employees.

Yesterday we went to the medical office to buy four months of emergency medical care. Here was the procedure:

The young woman asked for our passports.

She typed in our names, passport number and maybe a bit more information that is on the page where my photograph is located. She did the same for my wife.

She showed us a chart with the cost for the four months. Everyone pays the same amount regardless of age.

With her computer and printer she printed the forms and the medical insurance card we are to carry with us.

All was done within 15 minutes.

There were no questions concerning age, pre-existing conditions.....no questions of any kind.

The cost for two of us for four months ... actually 8 months of medical insurance coverage was a bit over $250.00. I doubt, at my age, that I could buy insurance for a week for just one of us for that amount in the US.

I was impressed.

 

Maybe the Czech Republic will have to help bail out the US because of our deficit spending that has resulted from the two totally improper wars begun before 2005.

The economy here, like economies all over the world, could use better days. But the government debt is quite manageable and low compared to many countries, including the US. I have not heard any grumbling over the government budget here nor of their health care system. The Czech Republic's government debt per GNP is lower than that of the German government and the German government is known for being careful.

The insurance covers just about everything when it comes to emergencies. It will not cover accidents from doing "stupid" [my word] things like bungee jumping, para-sailing, etc. If a person does not have the insurance and has an emergency they have to immediately for services rendered. As the policy costs are quite low it would be foolish not to buy the insurance.

There is nothing in the pages given me about care being denied in any way because of age. You mentioned death ... it does say that if I die they will cover the costs of shipping me home. I was a big surprised at that. Depending on the country a person is in determines if that person can be buried or cremated there. Some countries will not allow foreigners to be buried in their country.

I agree making insurance companies non-profit would help. Also limiting the liability of doctors would help. Every doctor pays a huge amount for liability insurance. OBGYN folk have insurance rates that are out of sight, up to $200,000 a year.

Our system is broken as can be seen by the number of people without any health care coverage. Consider that in relation to the Czech Republic where no one is without health care insurance.