Randahl FinkDec 13, 2024
The US may have put a man on the moon, but Denmark put an entire population on free healthcare.
Show threadJohn GordonDec 13, 2024
@randahl Do they include meds?
Show threadRandahl FinkDec 13, 2024

@jgordon yes. But to create an incentive not to consume unnecessary meds, we normally pay a part of the meds ourselves.

The chronically ill are exempt from this partial payment, and get their meds for free. People in hospital care are exempt too. Poor people can apply to become exempt.

Show threadRasmus LindegaardDec 13, 2024

@randahl @jgordon thats not entirely true.

My wife has epilepsy, and while the system does pay part of it, they do not pay for it all.

But every hospital stint and examination is free for the citizen, yes.

Show threadRandahl Fink

@rasmus91
Thank you for mentioning that. It is certainly more complex than I can describe in a few posts, but I do think that broadly, the Danish system can be characterized as "free healthcare".

Dental care is another exception. So is optometry.

@jgordon

Dec 13, 2024 at 9:56amIvory for iOS
Show threadRasmus LindegaardDec 13, 2024

@randahl @jgordon dental care being an exception that does not make a lot of sense.

And for some reason, every time we have a "borgerforslag", it's struck down in Folketing.

Show threadRandahl FinkDec 13, 2024
@rasmus91 I think dental will be improved at some point. But it is an area where the incentive to take care of yourself is important to the overall economy of the solution.
@jgordon
Show thread…might work for coffee…Dec 21, 2024

@randahl
I think opto and dental stuff was kicked out in German system to keep rates in check.

Something that needs mentioning is the hard cutoff rules for a lot of stuff. These discussions are needed in other systems to not always do everything possible but the stuff with maximum outcome in patient benefit. (replacement hip as one of those examples)

And having friends who worked in Kiel hospitals, there is some health tourism to Germany from Danes to speed stuff up.

@rasmus91 @jgordon

Show thread…might work for coffee…Dec 21, 2024

@randahl
So yes, the Danish system seems good overall.

But healthcare is complex and some stuff as usual does not play out. Good if you can get it fixed.

Germany I still think health and nursing is a dumpsterfire (and it runs rather good because of worker exploitation)

@rasmus91 @jgordon