Countries with free health care system ?

[nikke]

In Finland we also have private and public health care. Public works really well (and fast) when it is serious cases like cancer, heart or brain related and so on. Private is faster when you have less serious medical concerns.

For me who hade everything done in the public sector, orchiectomy + the two first BEP cycles + 2xCT scan + 2xblood work and sperm bank deposit will probably cost like 300-400€. Some of the home medication is partially or fully covered by the state.

There are some municipalities that give their own cancer patients some even some extra financial help.

[jeremyw]

Reading on these pages I'm HORRIFIED reading that some people here can not afford the cures/spend unbelievable amounts of money/are not covered by their insurance etc.
Not only the scare of dealing with cancer, but also the anxiety of going bankrupt because of it or even worse not being able to pay the therapies. Are there any other countries with a completely free health care system (communist countries dont count ) as we have in Italy ? How works in your Country ?

That is the same position I am in. Currently unemployed and now this. I was able to get on with indigent program in my county for some help. But I know it won't cover everything. It does really make you stop and think if you really do want the insurance or just let it go.

[vasileios]

I can share the situation with greece and cyorus.both countries are eu and have euro.both as you may know are goi g throuh a deep economical crysis. In greece thereis a so called free heakth system which means that theoritically you would get all surgeries (lets refer more to cancer related)and chemo etc for free provided that you either work and have social insurance or you arenot able to work for a medical or other reason. Thetruth is that the goverment health systemis poor with huge waiting queues (for a dentist appointmenteg 4months) and the goverment hospitals dont pay attention to the patients.it is widely known that if you have some money (or if you belong to at least the middle class) you must go to a private hospital to get proper treatment and actually have some chances to make it throuh the disease.also in greece it is extremely widely common for all doctors to demand bribes for maki g surgeries.e.g. a surgery would be payed from the social insurance but still the do tor would demand extra black no receipt tax money in envelope.this is in at least 70%of cases.
in cyprus the goverment social insurance only provides acces to goverment owned hospitals wherethe waiting queues are big and nurses and doctors dont really care about thepatients.i know that it sounds strange but before the financial crisis if you heard about someone going to a goverment hospital,people would say that he is very poor and would wish him the best of luck.anyone with a normal job would have a orivate company insurance and go to private hospitals. There is one cancer specific hospital in cyprus which was funded y a major bank a d the goverme tand operates in a space between private and goverment area.the level of treatment is great although there are some queues for ctscans etc. In the old days before crisis when a surgery could not e performed in the country e.g. rplnd the goverment would pay for it to bedo e in uk,germany or israel.now things changed so everyone MUST have a private insurance in order to beable to have his surgeries performed on time.in cyprus the bribing thing with the money doesnt really exist but still if you know so eo e e.g. goverment official you can bypass queues and get approval much much sorter.for both countries my advice would be private insurance and lrivate hospitals in orderto actually have some decend treatment for your cancer

[JohanusEU]

For most of the Europe applies "free health care system", which of course means that you have to pay health insurance from your income and it is mandatory.

[kingstonian]

the idea in europe is that nations are society and not individuals.
so you get to the idea that your tax on health may well never be needed for you, but if time comes you will be covered.
when i was working for over 15 years i never needed a sick pay, and within months of unemployement here i am.
thiw year i will not have to pay taxes but i do not feel as a free rider.

[tc2100]

I'll pinch in here because I've used the the european system (Spain,UK) and USA systems extensively.

Both systems have pro's and con's but I find a HC system from any of the top European countries beats USA's by a lot. Here are my main points:

Cost:
All universal HC systems in Europe are free at the point of care. Obviously they are paid through taxation of the citizen but the fact that money is not involved while treatment is a major plus from an USA POV. I find it inhumane / ridiculous / humiliating that one has to worry about treatment costs in the USA even for the most mundane procedures while you are sick. The insurance system in the USA is a patchwork of laws/providers/patients/goverment that forms an incoherent mess in where the patient often is a trap of. Things are a bit better since the ACA started in 2014, you can't get denied insurance if had cancer in the past (finally) but so many holes remain. Right now a big financial liability that most people are unaware of is 'balance billing' from out of network providers where the patient has no choice (typical example, is out of network anesthesiologist that treats you that's not part of your plan without your consent). Most people in USA live under the illusion that their PPO plan will pay out of network, but it's essentially false. When you are out of network, your liability is unlimited. Many times you will be out of network without you knowing.

Quality of HC:
It's hard to find difference in quality of treatment between the USA and Europe. While I'll agree that the USA providers tend to offer a more friendly face to the patient quality seems to be excellent on both sides. Europe gets the latest advancements at the same pace, and usually cheaper due to better bargaining power. I know of two friends with testicular cancer and got great care with their 'socialized medicine'. Protocols are identical to what you read here in USA and outcomes the same.

Drugs:
Here the USA may have a slight edge, at least in availability. Drugs do come first in the USA at a price... Things like Hep C drug Sovaldi gets a lot burocratic supervision in Europe before it's approved and paid for. This delays introduction of new drugs in Europe. There's a 2-3 year lag, but eventually they make it over there.

Delay of care:
It is true that care in 'universal HC' systems is delayed sometimes, but only for non-urgent procedures. I haven't heard of a single time where someone needed urgent surgery and it was delayed. I have heard many times of optional surgery that requires a waiting list.

Public/Private competition:
Having a strong universal HC provider in your country creates a big incentive for the private sector to do better. Usually, you can contract private insurance for the cases when you don't want to wait, or you want to get second opinions. It's a lot cheaper than in the USA.

Just my 2.5 cents.

[Rudachenko]

Here in Russia we have "free" medical care.But my curing,traveling,food,paying for room for father who was with me,that all were so expensive.We were in financial troubles, so we contacted cousins from Belarus for financial help.That was so terrible period in my life.