hsrob said:
I live in Australia. Apparently our health care costs us about $2800 year/per capita
(http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307oth.cfm).
It means you pay nothing for any care received in hospital. You can be assessed and treated in a public hospital for almost anything with the exception of cosmetic surgery. Private care sought in private practices or for dental/physical therapy and the like is not covered but you can be eligible for a partial rebate for some of this care depending on the situation. So the aim of out of hospital care is to make it affordable, not necessarily free. Our taxes also pay for the Flying Doctor service which retrieves people in remote areas and brings them to closest appropriate hospital.
Public Hospital care is of an extremely high standard. All doctors that work in Australia receive their training up to fellowship level in the public system and many doctors continue to work in the public system even after they have earned the right to private practice. All care is overseen by consultants (doctors who have passed their advanced medical training, usually 6+years post grad) even if they are not the direct care provider. However you don't get to choose the doctor that sees you and for non urgent care or non urgent surgery the waiting times can be significant as the hospitals, especially in some states are quite understaffed. Anyone requiring urgent care or surgery will be seen and treated immediately.
Private care is also available to everyone, starting at about ~$700 a year for once person with basic coverage, up to ~$6000 for top coverage for a family (don't quote me on these numbers, it's just to give a ball park idea) This still does not necessarily cover everything and you may be required to pay some kind of excess. Once again the aim is to make it affordable, not necessarily free. The doctors working in private hospitals are often the same doctors who work in the public system, working part time in each, although you are allowed to work exclusively in the private system. Care in a private hospital should usually be provided directly by a consultant and the system has minimal numbers of junior doctors. Care is the private system is generally as good but probably not better than the public system but is certainly faster (for non urgent care) and more comfortable. You also have control over which doctor you see.
A couple of other points:
People with private health coverage can still attend a public hospital if they wish.
You could attend a private hospital without private cover but it certainly wouldn't be cheap so i think most people wouldn't bother.
Many of the best hospitals in Australia are public hospitals as they are attached to the best universities and thus benefit from collaborative research and attracting the best people.
For me, i will probably get private cover just for stuff like dental and ophthalmological but am more than happy to rely on the public system for everything else.
So there it is. It's not perfect but given the land area and the difficulty with providing coverage to a country with such low population density, it's pretty good.
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So how long are waits for surgery or if you just come in needing to see a doctor about you having the flu?
