Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Health & Fitness => Topic started by: Auntie Helen on 28 November, 2017, 05:10:31 pm
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Living away from the UK, in a country with a very good health system, I still find myself wishing for the NHS.
I had my smear test (annual in Germany) yesterday. This is free with my health insurance, but before the test I was offered a vaginal ultrasound (40 EUR) and a breast ultrasound (60 EUR). I declined both, but it smacked a little of upselling. Are these things really needed?
It is time for my Mirena coil to be changed. The Frauenarzt (Gynaecologist) can do this of course - but you have to pay for contraception in Germany. 450 EUR!
God bless the NHS, it has been such a wonderful system for me. I pay 16.8% of my salary for health insurance in Germany and have to say, I haven't noticed it being any better than the UK system yet. In fact, my GerMan was really impressed by my September visit to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital for my regular checkup - everything free, high quality, no part-payments for treatments etc. God bless the NHS.
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The NHS has been awesome and wonderful on the very very few occasions that I or my family have needed it.
I suppose that you are in fact getting in Germany what is effectively a preview of Jeremy Hunt's NHS of the future.
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I pay 16.8% of my salary for health insurance in Germany
*boggle*
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A friend of mine works at the University of Amsterdam and is paying €75 per month medical insurance. Her German husband was rushed into hospital in Liverpool this week with heart trouble, I'm relieved to hear they didn't bother asking for his passport, although that may be because he has a UK GP.
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It is excellent, although somewhat crowded.
The Danish health system sees to be equally as good.
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I pay 16.8% of my salary for health insurance in Germany
*boggle*
I don't think the UK is that much different, we just don't have it itemised on our payslips in the same way.
The NHS budget is roughly £2500 per person (including children and retirees) in the UK, so it's probably safe to double it to £5000 per member of the workforce. So that's 16.8% of a salary of just under £30k.
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Although that is true, my tax rate in the UK was 20%; here in Germany I am earning a similar amount but paying 10% tax but adding to that 16.8% Health Insurance, also old age insurance, unemployment insurance etc (all mandatory, totalling about 20%) so am paying 10% more.
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Auntie Helen, you are forgetting NI in your tax rate of 20%
For most people, the effective payroll tax rate (over the untaxed threshold) is closer to 30%.
Then there is the employer's NI on top.