Free and universal health care is not exactly what it sounds like. In Australia you may well pay for certain prescribed drugs, but at minimal cost. I pay over $5 for each of my seven medications per month. But around October I reached the pensioner ceiling, and henceforth, my medications were free to me until January this ear. Non pensioners pay about $25 per prescription. There is also a higher medication level for people who pay the $25 maximum.
In England when I needed one drug because my chemist screwed up, it cost me £10, but only because I insisted on the brand name drug I knew. The medical appointment cost me nothing.
My tenant Kosov after been bitten by a dog when crossing a road, paid nothing for a tetanus vaccination. While it wasn't a claim, overseas students are compelled to have private health insurance, as they are not Australian permanent residents..
New Zealand also has public health care, even though it does not seem to appear on this map.
It took me a while to understand the US health care system, and correct me if I am wrong, but it seems your life will be saved after an emergency situation. If you don't have health insurance, and say for a car crash, you will get care until you are able to go home. But after that, you are on your own so far as recovery goes. So, you will receive free care, until you are kind of ok. Buy your own medications near the exit door at extortionate prices compared to the rest of the world.
Most of you in the US who are reading this will have good private health insurance, so not so much of an issue, but it certainly is for many citizens in the US.
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The emergency care only applies to stabilizing the patient. After that, nothing unless they have insurance. I have Medicare plus a supplemental and a prescription insurance. Monthly premiums, no copays.
ReplyDeleteI had a hip replacement plus ten weeks of physical therapy , 4 before, 6 after. Billed zero.
One of the reasons that I feel fortunate to be a UK citizen.
ReplyDeleteMy thyroid condition was diagnosed before I became a pensioner but, because it was deemed that I required medication for the remainder of my life, I received free prescriptions from that moment on.