Well, it is not a $10k penalty. That was just what I Would've paid at the time had I not been insured. The penalty is dependant on your income I don't know what the percentage is, I just remember being told that was my penalty if I cancelled my plan.

I live in Ontario, it's not completely public though, Medication is only subsidized for those under 25 and over 65, so 26-64 are screwed I guess. We also don't have dental covered at the moment, though both of these are big parts of the campaign trail so far. I prefer it to be subsidized, since poor people without coverage would be fucked if something happened to them.

Since I couldn't test Philippines yet on this, I can just tell about Luxembourg where I lived until 5 months ago.

Never had any problem reaching a doctor. Emergency in hospitals tends to be (over-)crowded, but you generally go to your family doctor first and you don't even need an appointment here if you go there in the morning (mornings are open, afternoons just on appointment and you can make a house call in the evenings, though that's pretty expensive, hence why outside working hours patients go to the hospitals. If I had to wait for long, then it's just because it was a busy day with many visitors, but I never had to wait more than 2 hours (I define more than an hour as long here).

Luxembourg has a Public Health System, though you can opt out if you prefer (NOT RECOMMENDED!) and there are some additional private health companies to give you (even) better options.

One thing that's special to our PHS is that you still have to pay full price at doctor's visits (though that price is set) and only get 80% back afterwards; on medicine you pay 100-20% of the original price depending on what it is (antibiotics 20%, symptom relievers 60-80%, painkillers 40-60%, vitamins and food supplements 100%). Stationary hospital visits and test requiring you to visit a hospital are generally fully covered

$6000 per year for insurance.

$50 co-pay per visit (Roughly 10-15 times per year, would cost $200 without insurance)

$500 deductible on procedures (Procedure I had a few years back would have been $30,000 without insurance)

Negotiated rates on medication (I pay $100 a month compared to $1500 a month if I lacked insurance)

I also do pay 2% of income in taxes for Medicare which helps elderly people with healthcare needs.

Level of care is good, the issue is how expensive it is, and really how it would be if I didn't have a job that had insurance.  I will die within 48 hours without medication so my situation often requires fast response time from hospitals or doctors.

Germany here.

Some 10-15 years ago health insurance became mandatory for almost everyone (except politicians and some others).

At least in theory - for what may sound like a nice idea became a nightmare for many germans. Because the law that made health insurance mandatory decided that people who were uninsured back then and at some point wanted to get health insurance again would have to retroactively pay health insurance fees starting from the very day that this new law came into effect. But nobody informed these people who were uninsured about that new law and its consequences, so if someone didn't accidentally read about it - bad luck. Many only became aware of that problem years later, and by that time, they would have already had to pay thousands of euros, which most of them couldn't possibly afford.
So in practice, there are currently tenthousands of germans who not only have had no health insurance for many years, but who also have no way of getting health insurance, because then they'd have to retroactively pay health insurance fees for many many years. And to make things worse, these people also basically can no longer get a job, because getting a job requires them to get health insurance...

eh two mistakes in this post.

Health insurance IS mandatory for everyone. Politicians included. You might confuse that with public health insurance.

How would it be possible to inform previously uninsured people? The state doesn't have data on people who were never insured.
Also all federal laws have to be announced in the Bundesgesetzblatt which is freely available to everyone.
And last but not least "Unwissenheit schützt vor Strafe nicht".

Nope. If something happens, i'm just plain screwed. Even when i had health insurance, i didn't go to the doctor.

Germany.

We have a public health system that works through public insurance, but also have a small private sector (wich a lot of rich people use and freelancers are forced to use, since employers usually pay over half of the cost of your health insurance). If you happen to be uninsured you still get treatments and the cost is delayed to the point in time when you have insurance again. Health insurance is mandatory. If you are unable to pay for it, the state will pay it for you.

I've never had to worry about medical cost throughout my life. Everything, from check-ups to long hospital visits is covered, as long as it is reasonably medically neccessary.
We have some small medication fees and have to pay full price for over the counter drugs, though. It's always manageable costs in the realm of up to 5€ or so.

Some of the changes that were made to the systems detriment (with the great forces of capitalism and the free market used as justification) are that for certain things you only get basic coverage and need either add-on insurances or have to pay out of your own pocket to pay it. Such things include a range of tooth related things, like nicer looking fillings, certain implants and tooth replacements, professional dental cleaning (unless you're wearing braces), etc.
It also includes all glasses unless you're over six dioptrin in any direction.
You can usually get a free frame and cheapo glasses for about 20€, but if you're going to be dependent on your glasses you will need them to be anti-reflective and anti scratch coated and maybe extra thin, depending on your frame and that will put you back 250€ - 350€ on average.
The most stupid thing about this is that they don't cover eye-laser surgery, because you could get glasses or contacs......wich they also don't cover....
All of this used to be covered at one point, but private insurances lobbied for them to be excluded from the public health insurances in order to make themselves and their elevated pricepoints look more attractive.

I''ve never had a problem to get to a GP, in fact you usually just go there and wait until it's your turn.
GPs aren't really bound to a certain district either, if you WANT to go across town every time you have a cold, because you prefer that GPs clinic, you're free to do so.

My particular GP doesn't do appointments, just open clinic, wich means first come, first serve. I was chummy with the team and used to call ahead to tell them to put me on the list and call me when it was nearly my turn if I was feeling too shit to sit in a waiting room for two hours, since I live next door, but now they changed a lot of the team and the new people wont do that anymore.

Getting an appointment with a specialist in a timely fashion can be a nightmare, I had to call 15 neurologists before I got to one that would even give me an appointment. My neurologist is great, but standart waiting times are 6-8 weeks, wich is very long if you have aomething that comes in acute flares and needs to be tested while it's there.
A huge problem with this is that they will flat out refuse to treat you, even though they are technically legally obligated to do so, if you're not either privately insured, or have a serious diagnosis like cancer treatment, both of wich will bring a lot more money in than other smaller, but also life-inhibiting problems.

There is a service number that will get you an appointment within three weeks in your area, but you cannot choose wich doctor you get, as one is appointed to you.

Overall, I'd say while there's problems with the system, it's nothing that is unsolvable. BS like preferencial treatment of privately insured people, or non payment for essencials like glasses need to be rolled back again and a lot of hospitals and clinics are in need of more good personnel.
The money for it is there though and it is a sustainable system, that overall keeps costs low, so I'd prefer it over whatever is happening in Brazil, the US or the Phillippines any day.

Wow thats a lot. Or no because youre saving a lot with medicines. Is it that expensive because you already have a condition or 6k per year is a normal price? Sorry to know you have a delicate situation

Sorry I dont get it... so you have publich health for everyone bit at the same time you need to uave private insurance?