I don't mean to imply that the German system is perfect. There are problems, of course; no system is 100% perfect. But the US system is non-existent. It's a patchwork quilt, where half the patches are wearing thin and the other half are half-rotten, so it resembles a spiderweb more than anything.
When I was a student in Marburg, in 1996/97, I paid DM81/month to Barmer for medical cover. When I got bromine on my arm in chem lab and went to the clinic? Free. When I had a wart on the bottom of my foot and went to a podiatrist to get it taken care of? Free, except I had to pay for the bit of tape to hold the salicylic acid square to my foot. When I got new glasses? The lenses were free, and DM20 of the frames were covered. (I ended up paying about DM60 for them.) I remember my conversation at the Optiker's, where I kept asking him how much the lenses would cost, and he kept saying "the insurance will cover the basic price." I couldn't comprehend insurance paying for eyeglasses. It doesn't here.
Compare that to this summer/fall, when I was sick as hell, and I went to my doctor's office a dozen times, at $20 each, to multiple specialists, at $30 each, got a dozen different medications ranging from $10-$35 for a month's supply, was admitted to the hospital ($250), had a sinus CT ($250), and went to the ER ($150). And we're paying probably $1000/month (I don't know; it's included in my husband's benefit package) for it.
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chiming
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Date: 2011-02-08 06:18 pm (UTC)From:When I was a student in Marburg, in 1996/97, I paid DM81/month to Barmer for medical cover. When I got bromine on my arm in chem lab and went to the clinic? Free. When I had a wart on the bottom of my foot and went to a podiatrist to get it taken care of? Free, except I had to pay for the bit of tape to hold the salicylic acid square to my foot. When I got new glasses? The lenses were free, and DM20 of the frames were covered. (I ended up paying about DM60 for them.) I remember my conversation at the Optiker's, where I kept asking him how much the lenses would cost, and he kept saying "the insurance will cover the basic price." I couldn't comprehend insurance paying for eyeglasses. It doesn't here.
Compare that to this summer/fall, when I was sick as hell, and I went to my doctor's office a dozen times, at $20 each, to multiple specialists, at $30 each, got a dozen different medications ranging from $10-$35 for a month's supply, was admitted to the hospital ($250), had a sinus CT ($250), and went to the ER ($150). And we're paying probably $1000/month (I don't know; it's included in my husband's benefit package) for it.
Appalling.