Were you surprised or not by these numbers?🤓 UPDATE: just got the bill from that hospital where I got first treated after the accident. In total it was 585CHF, but luckily everything was covered at 100% (even my crutches (technically a mobility aid)). So since I've already exceeded all the co-payments, insurance pays for this entire bill. (I just realised that I made a mistake - my surgery was 4 and not 5 months ago, oups!)
As a physician based in the United States the health care system you describe in Switzerland is remarkably similar to the US health care system. I will say that in the US the total costs may be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% higher, though there is even greater variability in costs in the US depending on location in the country and whether the surgery is done as an outpatient, in an ambulatory surgery center (which doesn't seem to be an option in Switzerland), or inpatient in a hospital. Usually in the US if you pay fully out of pocket without any insurance you will not have the benefit of the negotiated discounts insurance companies get which can be around 40-60% off the invoiced amount. As a result, in the US, the quoted invoiced charges bear little relation to what health care providers (including hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals and physical therapists, etc.) actually get paid. Nearly half of health care spending in the US comes from public (government) programs either from federal dollars or state or local government dollars. Government programs in the US set the benchmark for health care pricing. Even with the discounts private insurance plans negotiate, they pay more than government programs. In many respects private insurance and private payers in the US serve as an indirect subsidy of the public spending on health care. I hope this is not too long winded. Continue the road to recovery. Keep up the great videos.
Thanks for sharing all this information! Sounds like in the US the system is a bit more complicated and there are more variations in prices. When you say 'private insurance', do you mean any health insurance that a person would have or is there also division in the types of health insurance? Because from what I understand, in the US sometimes you get health insurance through work. And thanks! Working on that recovery🦵
@@OurSwissAdventure When referring to "private" health insurance that would include employer provided health insurance. In the US, employer provided health insurance dates back to the WW II period. Employers can expense out health insurance and the cost of health insurance is not considered taxable income to the employee. There have been changes to this to facilitate individuals obtaining their own insurance as the employment landscape has evolved in the last twenty years.
Very sorry to hear the ordeal of this ski accident.Finally you are on the road to recovery. Like you I am in UK. It only proves how valuable is NHS which is free for all. NhS is paid by National insurance and it is deducted at source approx 10%. The beauty of NI is that you get NHS free and also State pension and free bus pass at retirement age (Which can differ)
The reality a nobody gets free healthcare - ata a minimum, they pay extra income or sales taxes to cover the universal premium. Erica said she was paying 460+ CHF each month, plus she paid about 15% of her medical expenses when she needed care for this medical event. The question is what does one actuay pay in comparison to what they get/ or the quality of healthcare services in their country.
That's true, nothing is ever truly free, even the 'free' healthcare like the NHS. I feel that the insurance system in Switzerland makes healthcare your personal responsibility, you choose your plan, you pay for it and you see how much everything actually costs. However, when you have something like the NHS in the UK, someone else takes care of it all, you never see the bills, which I think makes people take things for granted at times. From the point of quality, I would say it's quite good here.👍 I definitely had my surgery and all appointments much faster than it would've been on the NHS, for example. Not sure how I would rate value for money though, since both countries I lived in before (UK and Latvia) have very different healthcare systems/income levels, so it's hard to make a fair assessment.🙂
Switzerland get rated as the best healthcare system in europe. number one in life expenctancy and lowest in child mortality rate. that proves everything.
Wow the surgery cost isn't even as high as I would've thought. I had an ACL reconstruction surgery in Singapore with an allograft (a bit more expensive) and the total cost was 40,000 SGD, which is about 27,000 CHF at today's rate.
Hi, I was not shocked . I live in USA, New York State. Same thing. Different prices. One big insurance coverage. (Blue Cross Blue Shield). Good insurance. From your boss or private. Expensive. Some people Get a second cheaper ins.,big deductible. Thank you for the information.
Great video ! I’m also in Neuch with Helsana. Though I did the 2500 deduction and pay 370 per month. We’ve lived here since Jan- we know better to pick the 300 deduction next time! I’ve since had a visit to ER, had two doctors appointments (obgyn so maybe that’s specialist), additionally a separate accident on the slopes where I was given a knee brace, transported down the mountain etc. Absolutely nothing has been covered! I do have accident insurance so I’m wondering if accident insurance is just something I was meant to negotiate/remind them of? The monthly payments alone are more than what’s deducted in salary for the NHS or French social security which would have covered everything in the same situation. I particularly don’t find the Swiss healthcare to be better than France (or maybe it’s more expensive bc there are less people?) Is it just NE that has such high monthly payments- I saw another TH-camr in Switzerland that paid 200 pm in german speaking canton? Swiss people always complain about how much the insurance eats into their disposable income and I wonder why it hasn’t been petitioned to change like Why doesn’t the government subsidise healthcare payments and negotiate directly with healthcare companies. Apparently people feel rather helpless with the insurance lobbies which legally obligate people to have private healthcare (not very ‘free market’ but anyway). Sorry for the essay q: healthcare has definitely been the biggest letdown for us. Apparently it’s recommended to talk to a specialist broker to get the best rates but gosh, it’s healthcare not buying a house 😅 Just does not seem efficient for a basic need when we all pay taxes in such a wealthy country. Wishing you a continued recovery!
Hi! Thanks for watching and for sharing your frustrations. Don't worry, we understand it! From what I know, if you think you'll spend over 1000CHF in a year on healthcare, then you should pick the 300CHF deductible. And if you spend under 1000CHF, then pick a higher deductible. It's another question how on earth are you supposed to predict how ill you will be in the coming year....but let's not dwell too much on that..🙈 Is your accident insurance through work or did you get it as part of your normal health insurance? Yes, unfortunately, Neuch is one of the worst cantons for health insurance costs, and taxes... But hey, the rent is one of the cheapest apparently, so silver linings!😂 I'm not sure, maybe they have tried to change the system. But as you say, the lobbying is strong. All these insurance companies have a strong interest in keeping the system as it is. I feel like in Switzerland you have to really be an expert in all these different topics, including the insurances, to be able to make the right decision that won't leave you disadvantaged. I literally spent days reading all the info available and I still don't think I know it all. I fell like it should be more simple..
Nice video! May I ask, what's the name of the hospital or the Dr. and are you satisfied about the results? I'm planning to have the same surgery in CH.
It was Dr.Burn at the Providence hospital in Neuchatel. Nothing went terribly wrong, and I didn't have to have anything re-operated, so I suppose the result is okay. My recovery is going slower than it should, but I don't know the reasons for that. The doctor was really good with everything before and around the surgery time. I have to say though that afterwards our check up meetings have become very brief with just a quick - all fine? fine! (maybe that's because in his eyes everything is fine with my knee..I don't know) But maybe if you want someone who will have more thorough check ups with you after surgery, you should choose a different doctor.
@@OurSwissAdventure Thank you for your great answer. Yes, I also think the check up meetings were brief because your knee is looking good for him. About your recovery, they say that there will be 9-12 months until a full one. So, you need to wait some more months. The quickest rec would be 6 months, but even professional athletes cannot make it sometimes so fast. Gute Besserung!
@@christianfolk Yes, probably! I know I know, ACL recovery is super long. It's just frustrating when it's going even slower than that. Thank you!🙂 What happened to your knee?
Doctors appointments are covered by the health insurance, but first you need to pay for them yourself until you reach the franchise and the 10% co-payments.
As accident shouldn't be all cover by the insurance? That's strange to me you pay the excess...but probably because you don't work, change the basic insurance and with money saved pay a complimentary one, mybe with cpt😁🙈👋
Yes, basically if you get your accident insurance together with your basic insurance (because you are not employed, self-employed, student, retired), your accident is treated under the rules of basic insurance, as if you just got an illness. I explained this properly in the last video about accident insurance th-cam.com/video/Ef6pOTjmqK8/w-d-xo.html 🙂 Sorry, what do you mean by cpt?😊
Were you surprised or not by these numbers?🤓 UPDATE: just got the bill from that hospital where I got first treated after the accident. In total it was 585CHF, but luckily everything was covered at 100% (even my crutches (technically a mobility aid)). So since I've already exceeded all the co-payments, insurance pays for this entire bill.
(I just realised that I made a mistake - my surgery was 4 and not 5 months ago, oups!)
As a physician based in the United States the health care system you describe in Switzerland is remarkably similar to the US health care system. I will say that in the US the total costs may be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% higher, though there is even greater variability in costs in the US depending on location in the country and whether the surgery is done as an outpatient, in an ambulatory surgery center (which doesn't seem to be an option in Switzerland), or inpatient in a hospital. Usually in the US if you pay fully out of pocket without any insurance you will not have the benefit of the negotiated discounts insurance companies get which can be around 40-60% off the invoiced amount. As a result, in the US, the quoted invoiced charges bear little relation to what health care providers (including hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals and physical therapists, etc.) actually get paid. Nearly half of health care spending in the US comes from public (government) programs either from federal dollars or state or local government dollars. Government programs in the US set the benchmark for health care pricing. Even with the discounts private insurance plans negotiate, they pay more than government programs. In many respects private insurance and private payers in the US serve as an indirect subsidy of the public spending on health care. I hope this is not too long winded.
Continue the road to recovery. Keep up the great videos.
Thanks for sharing all this information! Sounds like in the US the system is a bit more complicated and there are more variations in prices.
When you say 'private insurance', do you mean any health insurance that a person would have or is there also division in the types of health insurance? Because from what I understand, in the US sometimes you get health insurance through work.
And thanks! Working on that recovery🦵
@@OurSwissAdventure When referring to "private" health insurance that would include employer provided health insurance. In the US, employer provided health insurance dates back to the WW II period. Employers can expense out health insurance and the cost of health insurance is not considered taxable income to the employee. There have been changes to this to facilitate individuals obtaining their own insurance as the employment landscape has evolved in the last twenty years.
@@dr.nunez-livinghealth7546 Ah, okay, I see! Thanks for the clarification!
I wouldn’t really compare the 2 systems.
The Swiss system is quite different in function.
Very sorry to hear the ordeal of this ski accident.Finally you are on the road to recovery.
Like you I am in UK.
It only proves how valuable is NHS which is free for all.
NhS is paid by National insurance and it is deducted at source approx 10%.
The beauty of NI is that you get NHS free and also State pension and free bus pass at retirement age (Which can differ)
The reality a nobody gets free healthcare - ata a minimum, they pay extra income or sales taxes to cover the universal premium. Erica said she was paying 460+ CHF each month, plus she paid about 15% of her medical expenses when she needed care for this medical event.
The question is what does one actuay pay in comparison to what they get/ or the quality of healthcare services in their country.
That's true, nothing is ever truly free, even the 'free' healthcare like the NHS. I feel that the insurance system in Switzerland makes healthcare your personal responsibility, you choose your plan, you pay for it and you see how much everything actually costs. However, when you have something like the NHS in the UK, someone else takes care of it all, you never see the bills, which I think makes people take things for granted at times.
From the point of quality, I would say it's quite good here.👍 I definitely had my surgery and all appointments much faster than it would've been on the NHS, for example.
Not sure how I would rate value for money though, since both countries I lived in before (UK and Latvia) have very different healthcare systems/income levels, so it's hard to make a fair assessment.🙂
Switzerland get rated as the best healthcare system in europe. number one in life expenctancy and lowest in child mortality rate. that proves everything.
Wow the surgery cost isn't even as high as I would've thought. I had an ACL reconstruction surgery in Singapore with an allograft (a bit more expensive) and the total cost was 40,000 SGD, which is about 27,000 CHF at today's rate.
Wow, that's expensive! I hope the insurance paid for that one!
@@OurSwissAdventure Luckily they did, otherwise would've been cheaper to fly first class to Europe and get it done there in a private hospital :))
Hi,
I was not shocked . I live in USA, New York State. Same thing. Different prices. One big insurance coverage.
(Blue Cross Blue Shield). Good insurance. From your boss or private. Expensive. Some people
Get a second cheaper ins.,big deductible. Thank you for the information.
thanks for sharing your experience👍
I wouldn’t really say it the same but not far off 😅
Great video ! I’m also in Neuch with Helsana. Though I did the 2500 deduction and pay 370 per month. We’ve lived here since Jan- we know better to pick the 300 deduction next time!
I’ve since had a visit to ER, had two doctors appointments (obgyn so maybe that’s specialist), additionally a separate accident on the slopes where I was given a knee brace, transported down the mountain etc. Absolutely nothing has been covered! I do have accident insurance so I’m wondering if accident insurance is just something I was meant to negotiate/remind them of? The monthly payments alone are more than what’s deducted in salary for the NHS or French social security which would have covered everything in the same situation. I particularly don’t find the Swiss healthcare to be better than France (or maybe it’s more expensive bc there are less people?)
Is it just NE that has such high monthly payments- I saw another TH-camr in Switzerland that paid 200 pm in german speaking canton? Swiss people always complain about how much the insurance eats into their disposable income and I wonder why it hasn’t been petitioned to change like Why doesn’t the government subsidise healthcare payments and negotiate directly with healthcare companies. Apparently people feel rather helpless with the insurance lobbies which legally obligate people to have private healthcare (not very ‘free market’ but anyway). Sorry for the essay q: healthcare has definitely been the biggest letdown for us. Apparently it’s recommended to talk to a specialist broker to get the best rates but gosh, it’s healthcare not buying a house 😅 Just does not seem efficient for a basic need when we all pay taxes in such a wealthy country.
Wishing you a continued recovery!
Hi! Thanks for watching and for sharing your frustrations. Don't worry, we understand it!
From what I know, if you think you'll spend over 1000CHF in a year on healthcare, then you should pick the 300CHF deductible. And if you spend under 1000CHF, then pick a higher deductible. It's another question how on earth are you supposed to predict how ill you will be in the coming year....but let's not dwell too much on that..🙈
Is your accident insurance through work or did you get it as part of your normal health insurance?
Yes, unfortunately, Neuch is one of the worst cantons for health insurance costs, and taxes... But hey, the rent is one of the cheapest apparently, so silver linings!😂
I'm not sure, maybe they have tried to change the system. But as you say, the lobbying is strong. All these insurance companies have a strong interest in keeping the system as it is.
I feel like in Switzerland you have to really be an expert in all these different topics, including the insurances, to be able to make the right decision that won't leave you disadvantaged. I literally spent days reading all the info available and I still don't think I know it all. I fell like it should be more simple..
Beautiful
Nice video! May I ask, what's the name of the hospital or the Dr. and are you satisfied about the results? I'm planning to have the same surgery in CH.
It was Dr.Burn at the Providence hospital in Neuchatel.
Nothing went terribly wrong, and I didn't have to have anything re-operated, so I suppose the result is okay. My recovery is going slower than it should, but I don't know the reasons for that.
The doctor was really good with everything before and around the surgery time. I have to say though that afterwards our check up meetings have become very brief with just a quick - all fine? fine! (maybe that's because in his eyes everything is fine with my knee..I don't know) But maybe if you want someone who will have more thorough check ups with you after surgery, you should choose a different doctor.
@@OurSwissAdventure Thank you for your great answer. Yes, I also think the check up meetings were brief because your knee is looking good for him. About your recovery, they say that there will be 9-12 months until a full one. So, you need to wait some more months. The quickest rec would be 6 months, but even professional athletes cannot make it sometimes so fast. Gute Besserung!
@@christianfolk Yes, probably!
I know I know, ACL recovery is super long. It's just frustrating when it's going even slower than that.
Thank you!🙂
What happened to your knee?
So are doctor appointments covered by the monthly 300 ch insurance ?
Doctors appointments are covered by the health insurance, but first you need to pay for them yourself until you reach the franchise and the 10% co-payments.
As accident shouldn't be all cover by the insurance? That's strange to me you pay the excess...but probably because you don't work, change the basic insurance and with money saved pay a complimentary one, mybe with cpt😁🙈👋
Yes, basically if you get your accident insurance together with your basic insurance (because you are not employed, self-employed, student, retired), your accident is treated under the rules of basic insurance, as if you just got an illness. I explained this properly in the last video about accident insurance th-cam.com/video/Ef6pOTjmqK8/w-d-xo.html 🙂
Sorry, what do you mean by cpt?😊
*those who get free healthcare in other countries* - 😱😱😱
Yeap! Although in reality, if it's ''free'', it's probably funded by the taxes people have to pay..🙈
@@OurSwissAdventure thats true thats true
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