I am an American who is currently living in Germany.
I want Americans to understand what the differences are between the US and German health care systems with regard to costs.
Imagine what it would cost me in the US to have a bicycle accident that caused a concussion and short term memory loss.
Think about what it would cost me out-of-pocket even with the best insurance just to walk into the emergency room.
That’s what happened here in Germany. I went in to the emergency room and was diagnosed with a concussion. They took an x-ray of my facial bones to insure that I had not broken any.
We had virtually no wait whatsoever before I was treated and saw a doctor.
We were offered to stay overnight for observation. This is considered important for head injuries. We declined that offer and went home.
Now, how much would all of this have cost in the United States?
We received our bill from the hospital yesterday. Guess what the total bill was?
IT WAS 23 EUROS. That is just under $30 when converted to American Dollars.
That is the total bill, not a copay for insurance or anything like that – THE TOTAL BILL was under $30.
Now, I want to ask you, if you are an American, do you see a little disparity between what you would pay in the US and what Germans are paying for health care?
If you are an American, I wanted to share this experience with you. It is important for you to understand how great the discrepancy in health care costs are.
The next thing for you to do is to start asking why it is like this.
One major health care problem can easily bankrupt a family in the United States. Families in Germany do not go bankrupt over health care emergencies.
Cast all the arguments about socialized medicine aside – because that is not the point of this post. I do not care who wins that debate. I am just talking about the disparity and discrepancy in costs.
It is something that every American family should think about.
