Doctor visits: Expensive in US - Macedonia a model

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1 world By Teresa Küchler 23 dec, 2017 We take the pulse of the world's health quickly on Everything about Doctor visits: Expensive in US - Macedonia a model Waiting times and costs of care varies greatly between countries in the West. And it's not always the richest countries are best. Little Macedonia singled out as a model for all of Europe. Picture 1 of 7 Belgium: Generous health system Original text Läkarbesök: Dyrt i USA Makedonien en förebild Contribute a better translation Foto: Henrik Montgomery/TT BRUSSELS When the Euro Health Consumer Index ranks European healthcare will Belgium four. The Belgian healthcare system is described as "perhaps the most generous." A pregnant woman can do, for example eight ultrasounds. After the birth, she stays on average 4-5 days in the hospital. Mothers who are self-employed receive 100 hours of cleaning help to compensate for their shorter maternity leave than employees. Health care is both private and publicly funded. A doctor's visit costs between 25 and 40 euros, regardless of treatment. You get back 80 percent of the sum of their health insurance which costs the equivalent of a few hundred pieces a month. Dental care is included in the public health system. You can get both of physician and medicines around the clock: in addition to hospital emergency departments are always on-call doctor who makes house calls during evenings, nights and weekends. Both personnel and hospital density is high in Belgium. Private health centers coexist with the government. Belgium is also one of the most densely populated countries on earth, and there is rarely a problem "bounce of" one patient to another hospital - the distances are small. TERESA KÜCHLER

2 Picture 2 of 7 Germany: What do you mean queues?

3 Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP BONN When the German Health Ministry reported wait times is the measure not weeks or days without the minutes, notes Euro Health Consumer Index in This view is confirmed by the German Association's latest survey. There, said 31 per cent said they had doctor's appointment that day they called and another 12 percent said they could see a doctor the same day without having received a time. In medical specialists orthopedic surgeons, however, it is not uncommon to longer waiting times. But only 3 percent said they had to wait more than two months of specialist care. Nine out of ten Germans covered by the public insurance system consisting of more than 110 independent insurance. The insurance premium amounts to 14.6 percent of gross wages shared equally between the employer and the employee. Those who earn more than 500,000 per year can instead choose a private health insurance fund, which often paves the way for more privileged treatment. German patients themselves choose among approximately private doctors. Treatment is free with the exception of investigations that the patient can supplement with. Over Coatings and corridor care are the exception to the nearly 2000 hospitals. TOMAS LUNDIN

4 Picture 3 of 7 US 8000 crowns for a dentist appointment Photo: Jonas Ekströmer / TT NEW YORK What a doctor's visit costs in the United States vary widely The system is based on that you get health insurance through

5 widely. The system is based on that you get health insurance through your employer Translated or through to: English the purchase Show of what original is called the Options individual market. During Obama's health care reform depends insurance cost of your income and what health care costs in your area. With insurance, there are three different items that affect what you pay: contributions to the insurance, the deductible for doctor visits and the tax breaks you can get. If your appointment is not urgent, you usually need to go to a clinic that has a contract with your insurance company and the availability and service varies. That you offered help via app or phone are becoming more common. What is included in a health insurance varies, often missing eye exams and dental care. A frequent visits to the dentist to measure cost around 8000 SEK. Those who do not have any insurance to pay all health care itself, which means that those without insurance usually only go to the doctor when it is acute. In the emergency room doctors can not refuse care when the patient can not pay. Those who go without insurance will now pay an annual penalty. SANDRA JOHANSSON

6 Picture 4 of 7 France: the best of care according to WHO, but very expensive In France, patients pay their doctor's appointment on the spot. Then they get back all or most of the cost of the state. This applies to both private and public health care. A frequent doctor visits cost 23 euros. All care is recorded in a special electronic health card. From 2018, a new system set up where medical institutions reimbursed directly by the state. All Frenchmen must be registered with a family doctor, who locks patient rights in the health care system. Every two years offered a "preventive" health check free - to avoid future, higher health care costs. France has Europe's lowest mortality from heart disease and tops the "Euro Heart Index," which measures the quality of care for heart disease in 30 European countries. The waiting times are generally short 10 days for a hip operation. Across the country are on call doctor makes house calls at all hours. Dental care is part of the health care system, and is free for children, while adults pay 30 percent of their costs. WHO has praised the French health care as the world's best, but it is also expensive. The country's chronic budget deficits are often blamed on an overly generous health care. TERESA KÜCHLER

7 Picture 5 of 7 Canada: digital healthcare grows

8 Photo: Justin Tang / AP In Canada funded any health care through the tax bill. When a patient visits a hospital to show up a so-called Medicare card and pay nothing. Unlike its neighbor the United States, Canada has no major problems that people can not afford to get treatment, even if, for example, the cost of medicine can be a problem for low-income people. One the major problems for Canada's long waiting times for care that is not urgent, for example, may have a long wait to get a knee surgery. Each hospital will have a budget and you educate only a certain number of specialists which also affects the waiting time for some non-emergency procedures. In Canada, the growing use of digital health care, such as doctor visits through video conferencing. SANDRA JOHANSSON

9 Picture 6 of 7 Norway: Select hospitals charge Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Scanpix OSLO Healthcare in Norway is similar to the Swedish so much that the chances are that it is a Swedish nurse encountered in healthcare worked 12,000 Swedish nurses in Norway. With a weaker Norwegian krone and higher Swedish wages is not as attractive to work in Norway for longer. While the 2051 nurses applied for a license in Norway in 2009, it was only a tenth as many in This year's number so far is on the 138th Norway is in fourth place in the world for the amount of money spent on healthcare: 6647 dollars per inhabitant and year. In the USA's 9892 dollars and in Sweden the figure is 5488 dollars. According to the OECD, the quality of care is very high. It is particularly noticeable on the number of surviving after a heart attack or a stroke, and those who have been diagnosed with cancer. Most of the care is provided by the public sector. Only 15 percent done privately the responsibility for most of the health of the counties (corresponding counties), to the state. Almost all hospitals are now state and is run by four regional health enterprises. At the same time, the patients right to choose a hospital. In 2015 this was extended to any kind of treatment. Björn Lindahl

10 Picture 7 of 7 Macedonia: Role model for all of Europe

11 Photo: Boris Grdanoski / AP Book an appointment with a medical specialist in Macedonia as easy as making an appointment at the hairdresser - and the wait is no more than two days. Behind the short waiting times is the digital booking Izis which allows GPs to real-time appointment with a specialist while the patient waits. Arne Björnberg at the Health Consumer Powerhouse describes the system as a model for all of Europe: "Macedonia can reduce waiting times to virtually zero, why can not Sweden?" Medical care is state- organized and free. Both employees and employers contribute to the financing. Those who can afford it often take out a supplementary private health insurance. According to the World Health Organization, Macedonia is a pioneer when it comes to efficiency and decreasing the cost of care. Care quality is lower than in the more developed EU countries, according to the Swedish Foreign Ministry. There are also outdated treatment methods. But experts say it is a legacy of Yugoslavia that is about to disappear. TOMAS LUNDIN Teresa Küchler

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