The U.S media makes out European health care systems to be socialistic systems, and socialism is definitely used as a derogatory term.
Let’s take a quick look at Germany’s system: Germany’s public insurance is largely financed by a 14.9% payroll tax, 7.9% of which is paid by the employees. Germany sets reimbursement rates for hospitals and drug companies; patients pay the difference between drug prices and reimbursement rates. General Practitioners earn about half their counterparts in the U.S. Not all German doctors accept the low public reimbursement.
However, look at the overall resulting statistics:
|
Germany |
U.S |
|
| Percentage of GDP spent on health care |
10.4% |
16% |
| Health care spending per capita |
$3,588 |
$7,290 |
| Average annual growth rate of real health care spending per capita 1997 – 2007 |
1.7% |
3.4%
|
| Out-of-pocket health care spending per capita |
$470 |
$890 |
| Per capita spending on health insurance |
$191 |
$516 |
| Per capita spending on drugs |
$542 |
$878 |
| Number of practicing doctors per 1,000 |
3.5 |
2.4 |
| Average annual number of doctor visits |
7.5 |
3.8 |
| Average length of stay for acute care |
7.8 |
5.5 |
*Source: Forbes Magazine, Sept 21, 2009, “Somewhat Socialized Medicine”
This looks to me like the Germans are getting a better deal for their money.