Europeans Share Their Healthcare Experience, Part 4: Switzerland and Belgium

To bring some diverse experience into the discussion on health care reform here in the USA, I’ve asked my friends in Europe to share how health care works in their lives. In this final of four entries, here are comments from my friends in Switzerland and Belgium:

From Fritz in Switzerland:

In Switzerland, everyone has health insurance provided either through an employer (by payroll deduction) or by paying privately to a health insurance company. A family with two children has an annual premium of about 8,000 CHF (about $7,300). For every doctor’s bill, the insured person pays 10 percent. If a person becomes unemployed, then the goverment pays the premium based upon 80 percent of the average wage earned by that person over the past five years. The health insurance company reimburses the insured person, who then pays the doctor or hospital. There is talk of reforming this system because it has been misused.

Switzerland can no longer afford the luxury we’ve had in the past. We have over 1,000 hospitals — that’s too many for Switzerland. All the hospitals want the newest technology, scanners, MRIs, etc. Health care lobbying, corrupt politicians, an aging population, and billions in revenue makes changing the system almost impossible. So I pay and pay, this year 15 percent more than last year!

We have the system you are dreaming about, but our wishes and demands are so high that it gets unaffordable. Careless socialist politicians denied the missuse of our social security insurance and allowed hugh deficits. Now we have to stop and turn things around. When it comes to health care, no society can afford everything, top quality, any time, for everybody. Switzerland will now deal with that reality.

From Christian and Danielle in Belgium:

In Belgium we pay €20 (about $28) to see a general practitioner at his or her office. We are reimbursed 85 percent of this amount. Surgery is paid directly between the hospital and the social security system. A visit to the dentist is free once a year. Glasses are almost all at our expense.

One of the disadvantages of our system is a lack of responsibility. Patients have the right to change doctors without any reason given and then have the same exams done over. Doctors tend to charge for examinations which they did not do, or to do operations which are not needed. Retirement pensions are getting strained, because we live longer.

It seems that people in Belgium get their prescriptions almost always when their company is restructuring. That can be a problem. Half of the prescription is paid by your company and half by the state.

But as a whole, it is a good system, as we also pay for those who have no money at all.

Comments

13 Replies to “Europeans Share Their Healthcare Experience, Part 4: Switzerland and Belgium”

  1. Interesting comments here. Switzerland seems like it is pretty expensive. The example above sounds like those employed here in the US. So they pay about 7300 plus 10 percent. For the employed, I know premiums differ based on health care plans but I pay far less than that. It seems both of our costs are going up. Belgium is interesting as well. One thing to note about their health care is that the same is true here in the US – everyone is treated and we pay for those that can’t. I am just curious what they pay for those that can’t afford it – ER visit, surgeries, cancer? Would love to know more information about that.

  2. I’m seeing common themes in all the various nationalized health care systems. There’s no such as a free lunch, you get what you pay for, and finally government meddling and bureaucracy is inevitable, with no cost savings, and more service limitations. How about instead,we hold our duly elected officials accountable to do their jobs properly, regulating a for-profit medical establishment, instead of creating another layer of inefficiency and bureaucratic cost? Sounds pretty American, if you ask me.

  3. I have been in the UK for over two years now on a student visa. there are some things that i don’t get about NHS. earlier this year I paid £16.50 for a dentist to look at my teeth and say they were nice American teeth and I could probably wait another year before paying £45 to have them cleaned. (no long search for a dentist and no long wait for an appointment, tho). Also, glasses. Why are glasses and clean teeth not health necessities? Oh well. These things are not any more expensive than they are in the US paying for them. Another thing I don’t get is that you can’t have a smear test until age 25 and then you have to wait three years in between. I didn’t wait, I had one two years after my last one (at a planned parenthood in the US) and it’s good I did because I had abnormal results. I just made an appointment (again, no wait) for the follow up. So what’s the difference? In the US you can go to a charity clinic and have as many tests as you like, but I’m sure I would be freaking out right now about how I would pay for treatment if I need it — or god forbid if I get cancer. I’ve just started a proper job that offers a contribution for private insurance as one of the benefits. That’s all well and good and there may be a time when I decide I want to give birth in a nice private hospital or whatever, and I can afford it. For now I like the NHS just fine. Private care for those who can afford it but care for everyone.

  4. The comments from the Swiss resident really resonated with me. The Swiss seem to be intelligent and have their priorities straight but let’s be honest about it, human beings being what we are (a bit selfish, a bit greedy and a bit narrow-minded) we all will vote ourselves monies or perks from the public treasury – or vote for those who promise it to us. The last president who told us to sacrifice (Jimmy Carter) was voted out of office faster than you can say: “y’all turn down the thermostat, hear!” Bill Kester, South Carolina

  5. Thanks for providing these comments Rick; very interesting and useful to hear the opinion of people outside the government or media. How about an entry for comparisons’ sake with opinions of people in the US about their healthcare experience? I suspect the comments would be pretty much the same – “not perfect, but works for me.”

  6. As the U.S. debates a national health care program and we hear how we are behind the progressive European countries in this regard, we should consider that the highly touted French system is bankrupt. So, it is increasing the payments for individual services and prescriptions and is reconsidering the health services that are medically “necessary.” Certain prescriptions (such as pain medication following surgery) are not necessary. They are solely for the comfort of the patient. We should also consider how many French companies offer employees complementary health insurance as a prized benefit, and how many individuals pay for complementary insurance policies to shore up the substantial difference between the cost of medications/procedures/surgery and what the government will pay for. If their system is ideal, why do we see so many ads for private health insurance?

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