check it out:
then discuss…
I like a lot about it… it’s an interesting blend of private and govt.
Hard to say without living there.
I’m also curious about how their legal system works. Is it like the US where someone having a heart attack can come into the ER, be saved, and then a week later sue because during the effort to save the person’s life a dr accidentally broke one of their fingernails.
Running and hiding doesn’t cure anything.
*But I suppose a French kiss could?
“In its 2000 assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the “best overall health care” in the world”
Of course this rating was before they let over 11,000 of their people to die of heat exhaustion in 2003.
To their credit, they were almost all old and poor, which tend to cost considerably more to insure…
^ I almost typed something to that effect. lol
come on, somebody at least skim the wiki and respond with some serious comments about features you like/hate. It’s an interesting model.
In theory there are a lot of good plans out there. Theoretically the Canada system is good too. Hell, in theory, even Communism could work.
Truth of the matter is that you do not know how it will turn out here.
which Canadian system? (there are more than one) 
the one where the government pays to fix broken people lol
It isn’t a bad plan, pay a little extra in taxes and let the gov’t handle things. That way it get regulated properly. However then you have a number of reports of people being put on HUGE waiting lists to get major/time critical surgeries.
I have some french canadians where I work and I guess they say that depending on province and other things the system works very differently and it’s all a big mess really. The care they do give is good, but the administration side is horrible and expensive.
Exactly. You can’t say, “well it works there, it will be great here” because out society and governments are nothing alike. Nothing our government touches is ever economical. Every new administration adds more pork and patronage positions to the various programs and before long they end up top heavy black holes for tax dollars.
As for Canada’s system, I’ve said it in every one of these threads, but it’s worth repeating. My dual citizen co-worker gets “free” family healthcare in Canada but chooses to pay for the family plan here at work because, in his words, “If I get seriously sick I want a Dr to fix me, instead of dying while work through the bureaucracy”.
exactly, however, you have TONS of Americans begging for a similar system to be implemented here.
You just never know if it is going to work well or not. I believe that the same applies to the French system.
Fees and reimbursments:
Act Fee % reimbursed Patient charge
Generalist consultation 22 € 70 % 6,60 €
Specialist consultation 25 € 70% 7,50 €
Psychiatrist consultation 37 € 70% 11,10 €
Cardiologist consultation 49 € 70% 14,17 €
Filling a cavity 19,28 € - 48,20 € 70% 5,78 € - 14,46 €
Root canal 93,99 € 70% 28,20 €
Teeth cleaning 28,92 € 70% 8,68 €
Prescription Medicine variable 35 - 100 % variable
30 Advil 200 mg 2,51 € 60 % 1,00 €
As people argue for here, a universal system significantly holds costs down. With private insurance, the rates are much higher for those.
Also, you get 70% of your health care paid for by 0.75% of your salary.
To allow full reimbursement of health costs, many employees also pay a voluntary premium (up to 2.5% of salary) to a mutual insurer.
So you’re looking at full coverage for max 3% of your salary and change.
:tup:
. The 1998 reforms extended the system so that the more wealthy with capital income (and not just those with income from employment) also had to contribute, since when the 6.8% figure has dropped to 0.75% of earned income. In its place a wider levy based on total income has been introduced, gambling taxes are now redirected towards health care and recipients of social benefits also must contribute.
:tup:
I also like that they have a “referral system” like our HMO’s do to avoid frivolous specialists, and to discourage unnecessary care they make them pay up front and then reimburse as warranted by the rules.
the french system is a hybrid, the Canadian system is socialism… they’re pretty different really.
hence, I really dislike the candian and british system but I’m liking what I read about france.
So basically - if I understand correctly - every member of the population must pay for insurance. So, everyone has health care.
You go to doctor/dentist, pay a fee and get between 75%-85% claimed back. You can have additional full coverage by paying into a voluntary premium as well.
Of course this is all regulated, etc but from the article it makes sense and helps make sure everyone is insured.
^ I’ll agree I like what I’ve read about the French system. I’d like to see it tried here as long as it was tied to major tort reform.
THATSRACIST.GIF
business week on the french system & america
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_28/b4042070.htm
In Sicko, Moore lumps France in with the socialized systems of Britain, Canada, and Cuba. In fact, the French system is similar enough to the U.S. model that reforms based on France’s experience might work in America. The French can choose their doctors and see any specialist they want. Doctors in France, many of whom are self- employed, are free to prescribe any care they deem medically necessary. “The French approach suggests it is possible to solve the problem of financing universal coverage…[without] reorganizing the entire system,” says Victor G. Rodwin, professor of health policy and management at New York University.
the hard part for us to pull off:
To make all this affordable, France reimburses its doctors at a far lower rate than U.S. physicians would accept. However, French doctors don’t have to pay back their crushing student loans because medical school is paid for by the state, and malpractice insurance premiums are a tiny fraction of the $55,000 a year and up that many U.S. doctors pay. That $55,000 equals the average yearly net income for French doctors, a third of what their American counterparts earn. Then again, the French government pays two-thirds of the social security tax for most French physicians—a tax that’s typically 40% of income.
blue (i didnt read anything, but have read about the french system in the past) - what is done to address malpractice insurance premiums?
That is just about the single largest COST to any provider.