Hans van Zijst

Hans van Zijst

hans@social.woefdram.nl

Professional nerd and grammar nazi, writes in Dutch and English. Can read some German, French and Spanish too. Learning русский.

Location:: Netherlands

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:40:29 +0200

Hans van Zijst

hans@social.woefdram.nl

Pretty bizarre, in one of the richest nations in the world...

𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕒 🏳️‍⚧️🦋 wrote the following post Wed, 17 Jul 2024 04:09:25 +0200

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Wed, 17 Jul 2024 12:40:49 +0200

Joseph Teller

joseph_teller@diaspora.glasswings.com

Without insurance a one way trip in the ambulance can cost up to $10k here. We had a friend who had a heart attack and ended up dying in hospital afterwards. My wife and I handled his memorial service, care of his home, rehoming his cats etc. until his relatives could come out and deal with things. We brought his mail in for weeks afterwards including the bills for the ambulance that brought him to the hospital and that was what they charged him.

Flash forward a few years and I had an accident while out exercising and was ambulanced to local hospital (I had insurance) so our cost was only about $200 for the trip. A passerby had called the ambulance for me, as I was injured and temporarily blinded by the accident as well as dazed. I did manage to insist that they bring me to MY hospital (the one that I dealt with regularly, where my doctor had their office and where all the records were easily accessible on me) rather than the big one in Boston that would have cost me more and been longer to be seen by anyone and impossible to get home from in an impaired state when released. Crossing the river to the big city would have doubled the cost of the trip.

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:17:24 +0200

Hans van Zijst

hans@social.woefdram.nl

@Joseph Teller Wow, 10K for a ride in an ambulance! Getting that kind of bill after a loved one has passed away makes things even more painful...

I'm not sure how much an ambulance costs here, I've only needed one once. Had an accident at work and was taken to the hospital. I never saw a bill, not for the ambulance, the treatment or the pain killers I got: everything was handled by the insurance.

My mom had several long-distance trips in ambulances (long-distance by Dutch standards, mind you 😏), but those were also handled by the insurance. Just like the extensive surgery she needed.

In this country everybody has health insurance, it's mandatory. I pay some €120 per month, I believe, with a deductible of €350 per year. Everything over that is covered.

Getting ill or injured should never be a financial death sentence: medical care should be available for anyone when needed, not just for the rich.

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:38:47 +0200

Peter Lindelauf

peter_lindelauf@diasp.org

Canada, too, has universal health care. We don't have to worry about being bankrupted by accident or illness as with the American model of predatory health care.

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:46:05 +0200

Hans van Zijst

hans@social.woefdram.nl

@Peter Lindelauf I know.

And when I needed medical care in Vancouver, the hospital assured me they were going to help my anyway, insurance or not. I had insurance, of course, but it was good to know that no insurance didn't equal no help.

That's how it was in Salt Lake City: the doctor wouldn't even speak to me before he got my credit card...

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 21:51:24 +0200

Peter Lindelauf

peter_lindelauf@diasp.org

We don't even pay insurance premiums anymore. "Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums were eliminated as of January 1, 2020. British Columbia residents are no longer charged MSP premiums. Enrolment in MSP remains mandatory for all residents." Our government in BC is left of center and formerly Socialist, @Hans van Zijst.

"More than 70% of health care spending is publicly funded through general tax revenues. The provinces and territories generate 78% of the cost, with the federal government providing the rest through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT). This split has been the subject of debate since Medicare was first established."

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 22:02:38 +0200

Hans van Zijst

hans@social.woefdram.nl

@Peter Lindelauf We used to have a system like that: "ziekenfonds". Everybody was insured via ziekenfonds, but if you had enough money, you could buy a private insurance, "particulier", which would cover much more than only the necessary stuff.

Unfortunatly we went through a period of privatization in the nineties, in what was sometimes called the "third way". It basically meant selling lots of government-provided services off to commercial enterprises. Bad idea, really bad idea...

So now we have a more expensive system with much, much more bureaucracy. Still a lot better than the American system, but not as nice as British Columbia's...