Germany is a different case than others, I expect. Keep in mind though that while I certainly have German health insurance, I've been too lazy to seriously inform myself on it. So take with a grain of salt...
For one thing, they have a hybrid system where some pay for private insurance. These people get a lot better care -- too much. I experienced it myself when taking care of something very minor, and when realized my card was private, the doctor held it up like he was about to say, "Now the Revolution begins!"
A few minutes later, a lady taking my blood idly asked me why they called her, then looked at the computer screen and said, "Oh, you're privately insured." That settled that.
Normally I'd be annoyed at unnecessary piercing of my skin, but it was actually a pleasant experience. Not worth 20 EUR or so though.
I spoke with a German recently, and he observed that if you have state insurance, you don't get all the care you need; and if you have private, you get too much.
When I took a friend to a large university hospital for surgery, the rooms were incredibly dingy and depressing, nothing like the big glass fanciness of the ground floor. I joked that it was the ninth level of the Diablo dungeon. (It's a video game.) She luckily had a special private card which gave her a private room, but it was pretty weird and lonely.
There's something weird about doctor pay in Germany too. But I don't know how to interpret that.
Tayssir