[Culturechat] Medicare, good or bad?

[Vance Roy]

Vance:
It would be really enlightening if you would compare how medical care  
for the elderly in Switzerland compares with that in the U.S. Or more  
simply, just summarize how it works in der Scwheiz.
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Glad to do this. Don't know why this isn't done in the USA. There is  
universal healthcare insurance here. No choice, it is obligatory if you  
live here, citizen or not. The insurance companies have to sell it to  
you regardless if you are at death's door. Doesn't matter if you are 10  
or 100 years of age.

If you cannot pay for it, then there is a sliding scale of income based  
on the number in a household. This is for citizens only, since if you  
are not a citizen, you do not stay unless you can satisfy the financial  
responsibility requirements. For instance, a Swiss household with 60K  
CHF income per year and 10 dependents might get the whole premium paid  
by the Kanton. EVERYONE has health insurance for hospital and medical  
care. The total for Barbara and I is 2600 US$  per year. That is with  
1200 US$ per year deductible. This is worldwide, with the exception of  
the USA where benefits are limited to six weeks but at double the usual  
benefits. There is a 2 million US$ limit per year. You can pay more if  
you want a guaranteed private room and the professor to care for you (I  
learned a long time ago that some "professors" are not nearly as  
proficient as the second man down the line). You can always "pay up"  
for other care.

Fortunately, we have not had a lot of illness aside from a broken ankle  
and a few other outpatient nuisances. I did spend six weeks here in the  
70s and have observed the care for myself and Barbara recently. Suffice  
it to say that when I get sick, I want to be here. Any Idyller who has  
ever been in a CH hospital will tell you about the quality of care  
here.

Socialized medicine does not exist in CH. It is a private payer system,  
but there is universal coverage.


Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch

Americans always get it right, after they've exhausted all the other  
possibilities--Winston Churchill