>
> Dennis Redmond wrote:
>
> > Healthcare in Deutschland is universal, and if you
> > don't have the money, you will be covered anyway
>
> Wrong, and in fact, one horror scenario is that of
> people who choose not to go for a private insurance
> plan for fear of not being accepted back by a
> Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung.
>
> Here's a link to an article about the rising number of
> uninsured in Germany, based upon a study of the
> Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, whose credentials should be
> social democratic enough for you:
> http://hartz.blogg.de/eintrag.php?id=679
I couldn't read your article since I don't know German, but according to Google result #4 for "german health insurance":
http://countrystudies.us/germany/121.htm
it appears that only 0.3% of the German public is uninsured, this percentage including "the very poor, who receive health care through social assistance."
and then according to Google result #1 for "german social assistance":
http://www.worldbank.com/fandd/english/0996/articles/060996.htm
by a 1996 law, all German citizens with "net monthly earned income (gross income less social security contributions, taxes, and an allowance for employment expenses equivalent to around 10 percent of gross income)... less than DM 130... are entitled to receive full benefits." I see nothing saying that these universal benefits automatically disappear after a given interval of time, as do welfare benefits in many states in the U.S.A.
Do you know what the current situation is for a German on social assistance "full benefits" if he or she needs to go to a doctor or be hospitalized? Specifically: imagine Hanna comes down with mononucleosis, or Hans the drunk fruit seller falls off his bicycle and requires stitches, antibiotics and a tetanus shot. What can they do to get treatment and who ends up paying the bill?
Yours WDK - WKiernan at gmail.com