There are plusses and minuses with most things, and so it is with healthcare. There are countries where healthcare is provided by the state, and included in your taxes, but doesn't quite work. Waiting three years for a hip operation isn't optimal. And being treated by a doctor who has worked 24 hours straight, when you have a life-threatening condition, is also not desirable.
On the other hand you have countries like Switzerland, where you are welcome at any time to see a doctor and get treatment, or like in most cases, a referral to another doctor who supposedly is a specialist in the field.
In the end it all comes down to money.
Bearing this in mind, you have people in countries where the state provides the healthcare, and who are always abusing it. A cold? Going to the doctor. A minor scratch? Getting the doctor to put a band-aid on a bruised knee.
And in Switzerland, as well as in other countries like it, going to the doctor costs you. And they will all refer you to another so called specialist in order to save their asses. 'Cause it costs you, not them.
What is best? I'm leaning towards the Swiss solution, because it puts the responsibility on the person and I think there is too little of that these days. Blaming others seems to be the name of the game today. I don't like.
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2 comments:
Having lived in countries with both kinds of systems. I still prefer the state funded one, because I think its more egalitarian across socio-economic classes. Financially and healthcare-wise for a middle class person like me its basically the same under both systems. I don't know whats its like for poor people here in Switzerland though.
By the way, from my experience, most of what you said about state systems is not true. Most people don't go to a doctor unless they have to, just because its 'free' doesnt stop it from sucking. I don't know anyone who's had to wait more than a couple of months for anything and if its serious there is no waiting.
Doctors working crazy hours happens everywhere. e.g. AFAIK its particularly bad in the US where they don't have state funded healthcare
I agree that life-threatening cases get tended to immediately, but I know countries where you have to wait for years for an operation.
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