• TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    35
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Well, here in Germany you’re paying (you have to) around 15% of your gross income for health insurance plus 3.4% for intensive care insurance. Your employer pays for half of those. Insurances are expensive but if you need them it’s cheaper than paying for treatment yourself. What I pearsonally find worse is the public tv and radio fee you have to pay each month (18 euros, same as netflix premium) to finance some dickwad director earning 200k+ even if you don’t watch or even have a tv/radio. Also it doesn’t matter how much you earn, the fee is the same.

    • workerONE@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      So workers pay 7.3% and employers pay 7.3%? It covers all of your health care costs? U.S. insurance varies in cost but we have medical bills on top of insurance costs.

      • nyoooom@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        1 year ago

        But what does your insurance pay for if not the medical bills? It’s supposed to be its entire purpose, pay the medical bills.

        • TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          17
          ·
          1 year ago

          Insurance companies put enormous amounts of resources, time, and manpower into avoiding paying the bills. They’ll find some excuse buried in their 400 page packet, or they’ll deem something not a “medical necessity “ until it’s too late to do anything about it.

          • Default_Defect@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            1 year ago

            I received a HEART TRANSPLANT and my insurance tried to kick back one of my echo-cardiograms that I get quarterly to make sure my donor heart isn’t being rejected. They’re ridiculous.

        • workerONE@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          There’s different tiers, but in the case of a doctor visit and prescriptions for medication, you typically have a copay amount which insurance does not cover. If you have a serious illness and require treatment in the hospital you would be required to pay 30%-40% of the total bill. Also some insurance requires that you pay a certain amount per year before it will take effect, then the insurance pays the rest for the year. There’s tons of different plans and scenarios, insurance here is a rip off.

        • smackmyballsoff@lemmynsfw.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Exactly! It’s ridiculous. My father is disabled and on a fixed income. He has insurance but his treatment still costs him thousands a year, even though he only receives a few thousand to live on.

      • TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Yep, all covered except for some extra stuff like getting your teeth deep-cleaned by your dentist or some premium dental prosthetics, but they usually subsidize it. Edit: also having most people enrolled in the public insurance (wealthier people have private insurance) makes this system possible, at least for now.

    • Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      The public broadcasting fees are important to prevent private monopolies. To add some context to non germans: The most people here who cry about the fee are far right wingers because the public channels are the only ones really doing work to uncover things like Nazis in the police.

      And if you are without a job you dont have to pay it.

    • pwalker@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I find it interesting that u mention the German public broadcasting fee in a post about healthinsurance fees. Anyway I see the point why some criticise this specific fee. Imo the fact that is actually a separate “fee” and not hidden behind general state funding as taxes is the problem why people even mention it. Obviously when we would talk about taxes you will see there are much more fucked up ways where your tax is wasted. Anyway most of Europe does indeed have public broadcasting that is funded by public money. That is because they are indeed supposed to serve the public. In the EU, they are organized in the Eu Broadcasring Union. There is are very lengthy wiki articles on the history on PB or the EBU. However the gist of why this is such a vital concept could maybe summarized as " EBU members are public service media (PSM) broadcasters whose output is made, financed, and controlled by the public, for the public. PSM broadcasters are often established by law but are non-partisan, independent and run for the benefit of society as a whole."

    • deezbutts@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      I imagine working for a major health insurance provider… One would use them for health insurance?

  • average650@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you mean specifically health insurance… yeah this is spot on.

    I think it’s more complicated for other kinds of insurance though.

        • TheDarkKnight@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          And to your point, traditional insurance (home, auto, etc) pretty much targets a specific profit margin of about 3% or $0.03 for every dollar they take in. They tend to get eaten alive by competition when they get greedy, unlike a lot of other industries. But rates increase as costs increase ro maintain that 3% target…and costs have increased a LOT in recent years.

          It’s a pretty misunderstood industry tbh, and not without its own issues for sure. But overall it has its purpose and is heavily regulated to ensure they’re playing responsibly. They earn their money on investing the money they take in, and basically take the bet that they can earn more in the market than the risk they take on for every policy sold.

          • average650@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I basically agree. Those are actually insurance, and serve a purpose. Health “Insurance” isn’t insurance at all really…

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      Has an accident

      Insurance company that won’t help you: … Isn’t that a shame :(

  • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    62
    ·
    1 year ago

    You’re paying for a service. How much of your paycheck are they taking anyway? Mine is less than 5%. $70 a week. It’s not a whole lot.

        • ickplant@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          28
          ·
          1 year ago

          It happens all the time. You’re thinking of emergency life-saving treatment. They won’t let you bleed out on the hospital steps. But insurance denies necessary care for chronically ill people because it’s deemed unnecessary by them.

          Just one example

        • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          23
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Not on paper, but they absolutely fucking will in person. They’ll tell you your fine, they’ll tell you the wrong thing, and then they put off your appointments and then your dead.

          • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            20
            ·
            1 year ago

            They have a duty of care. The doctors are not administration. Administration cares about profits. The doctors just get paid regardless.

            • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              22
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              ON PAPER They have a duty of care. In real life all they give a shit about is you not dying in front of them. If you’re lucky. Sounds like you are. Maybe in your happy little corner of the fucking world it’s all morphine and triage, but here DOCTORS in the emergency room will only do enough to keep you from dying in front of them. You’ll have a stroke and they won’t do any follow up care and you’ll have another one two weeks later and you’re dead, because the doctors wouldn’t let you make an appointment in time.

              Also they’ll cut off your fucking leg because it’s cheaper than reconstruction, and not just because reconstruction is impossible.

              Also just realized dumbass OP up there casually dropped that he’s loaded and the rest of us are just stupid for being poor.

    • JimmyMemes@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      31
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      statistically Americans pay twice as much in insurance and taxes as Europeans pay in just taxes for healthcare

    • SuperIce@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      What about the money your company pays for the healthcare? I only see ~$350 a year deducted from my paycheck to pay for my insurance, but according to my W2, my employer pays another $8,000 per year to the insurance company. You’re paying a lot more for your health insurance than you see on your paychecks.

      • Asafum@feddit.nl
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        So many fucking people fight me on this…

        The company sees your benefits as part of your total compensation. They factor all of it in when considering your “value.” If they weren’t paying the insurance they’d need to pay you more to maintain a level of competitiveness that they claim the benefits add… Not to mention if everyone working paid a healthcare tax there’s no way in fucking hell it would be $1,200+ a month like it currently is… Not to mention eliminating the need for profits which add to the costs…

      • whofearsthenight@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        I have insurance. I went to urgent care when I was pretty sure I had the flu or COVID or something about a year ago (just slightly before COVID was declared “over.”) I paid my copay for doctors office visit, I was in there for about an hour, with roughly 40 minutes of that sitting in a room waiting for a doctor (in an empty clinic) and then had a flu test and a COVID test.

        They still sent me to collections for $350 for this visit. I pay a stupid amount for insurance, which my employer subsidizes, and I still can’t even get a fucking flu/COVID test apparently.

        For profit health insurance in America is evil. It is easily one of the most fucked up things about this country that we just absolutely ignore.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        Nope… Only providers for screwing up basic billing to my insurance.

        Every damn provider I seem to have in my area can’t fucking code and bill the correct insurance no matter how much hand holding you do for them. Or worse, they wait 6-10 months before they even send the bill and of course insurance doesn’t want to go back that far. Then they try to bill me.

        TL;DR… No it’s always a fight with the doctors office, never the insurance for me.

        • whofearsthenight@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          This is part of the system, and spoilers, it’s still the fault of for-profit insurance. Why do doctors offices screw up? Because every insurance provider negotiates a different rate, what is covered, etc. This office is going to bill one provider $3,000 for an MRI, another provider $27, another one $2799, and another one nothing. And if you go an office over, it’s going to be a whole different set of numbers. And then repeat that for basically every procedure, visit type, etc.

          This is a decent part of the reason why Americans pay more than just about any other country for healthcare. We spend billions more per year on exclusively middle-men who are just there in the way of your doctor’s providing you care you need.

          • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            This is part of the system

            So it’s part of the system for the doctor’s office to not bill insurance for over 6 months? To bill the wrong insurance company repeatedly?

            Nothing I stated was insurances fault but instead negligent medical billing coders.

    • penquin@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      How is your deductible and max out of pocket? You don’t count that? Lol I don’t run into too many people who say anything good about our healthcare scam system.

      • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s getting paid from somewhere, by someone. Doctors aren’t just suddenly free because they have universal healthcare.

        • TurboDiesel@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          ·
          1 year ago

          I didn’t say they would be. But to pretend American healthcare makes sense is beyond absurd. Workers are already taxed to fund Medicare/-aid (which we can’t access), then we’re also expected to pay private insurance premiums. The best part is that’s de minimis! All that gets you is a pass to get in the door.

          Then you have to pay co-pays and coinsurance, and possibly your deductible. We pay SIGNIFICANTLY more than our peers in the wider world for no reason other than greed.

              • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                5
                ·
                1 year ago

                Many pay for few… and the majority can never and will never claim it.

                https://www.investopedia.com/insights/what-is-a-pyramid-scheme/

                A pyramid scheme is a fraudulent and unsustainable investment pitch that relies on promising unrealistic returns from imaginary investments. The early investors actually get paid those big returns, which leads them to recommend the scheme to others.

                SSI relies on MORE people paying now than can be paid out later. So early “investors” get their returns… where newer investors will have little to no hope.

                So what do I not know?

                Caid/Care has a similar issue. If 100% (or even 20%…) of people paid into it needed it… it couldn’t possibly keep up/pay out.

      • Redrum714@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        You do realized you still pay for your healthcare via taxes in those nations right?

    • DJDarren@thelemmy.club
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      I guess I pay a similar amount as you; around £230 a month in National Insurance. According to XE that’s about $280.

      And yeah, that’s not a bad amount to cover any medical needs I might have.

      The difference is that, by and large, that’s all I pay. If I got hit by a car tomorrow, I wouldn’t get charged a penny for the paramedic, for the equipment they use to help me, for the ambulance to take me to hospital, for the doctors and nurses who patch me up, and for all the physio, medications and aftercare I’ll need.

      I’ll pay ~£10 per prescription, but if I develop a chronic, life threatening condition, that fee will be waived. If I don’t, then I can pay a flat annual fee of £110 and receive as many prescriptions as I need.

      Also, my National Insurance contributions (theoretically) ensure that when I reach retirement age I’ll be able to receive a state pension.

      The NHS is something that I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep, and you guys in the US should be fighting for your own version of it.

      • Candybar121@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        i wonder how many people will live through their whole lives without ever needing to use the insurance they pay for anyway.

    • papabobolious
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      You pay more per week in case you have a medical emergency than I pay per year for literal medical emergencies. You pay more in a month for just having insurance than I paid for a 10 day hospital stay, completely uninsured.