CNN iReport

Health Care. That is the buzz word for the past few months. Health Care reform. I am an American living in Germany for the past few years and recently a close German friend became very ill. So I was able to get an up close and personal look at how this social health care system works here in Germany. I thought I would share this with some others via this venue. Please realize that I do not know all there is to know about this system. These are just my personal insights within a limited knowledge base although I did try to do some additional research, mostly historical, about the German health care.

My friend has AOK which is the government health care. He pays a set amount each month based on his monthly income. This covers all medical needs including some dental and some eye care but only those related to the health of the teeth or the eyes. Glasses are included. Hearing is also covered.

One pays a quarterly fee of 10 euros to your doctor (Hausartz) and then you are able to go as many times as needed within that quarter without additional charge. If you are hospitalized you pay 10 euro per day for up to 28 days within the year and then there are no other hospital room charges. He was in hospital for a total of 17 weeks and paid out of pocket just 280 euros for the hospital room care. He had sonograms,CAT scans, MRIs and PET scans all without cost. He had 3 surgeries, a trip to a rehab clinic in the Black Forest all without cost. His medications were very low cost with a total yearly outlay of 140 euros for over 20 different medications. Many of them were without charge, most were with a 5 euro price tag. He was given a blood pressure machine and a sugar monitoring system with a 10 euro cost.

He lives in the university town of Heidelberg with a most excellent medical center and the care he received at both private hospital and university clinic hospitals were of the highest quality. I was in very close contact with all his medical health care professionals because of the nature of his illnesses. I was treated as a member of his family and I can say that the quality of communications with his doctors was on parr or perhaps even better than that of the USA.

Historically I have been shown that the health care costs have been largely under control of the government for many years. This has made the health care system work a bit better and the insurance out-lay seems to be less than that of US insurance providers.  My own personal contact for one incident with the German emergency care was quite eye-opening as far as costs. I had a fall from my bike. I was taken to a hospital by the emergency services. I was given a tetanus injection, had 3 Xrays taken of my hand, and had basic medical care from the doctor. The total cost of these procedures came to 73 euros, approximately $100. Most emergency rooms in the US would, I believe, have charged over $300 for the same care.

I know I am not knowledgeable enough about German health insurance to know that there is more to it all then this. However it was quite gratifying to my friend to know that he would not receive huge, financially devastating hospital bills after his long illness. He must continue to receive checkups however he has no worries about these health issues creating for him a financial hardship.

I am not able to say that this is a PERFECT system, I am sure that there are many things of which I am not aware and someone with more knowledge may be able to tear this dialog apart with better facts, however this is my own, up-close-and-personal view. I can only hope that the proposed health care for Americans will act in some way as kindly as this system does for Germans.