6mo ago

Non-Americans, what's it like when you're sick and need to go to the doctor?

Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc

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188 comments

Sweden.
A few alternatives:
I could book an appointment at the local health center. I would probably get a time at the earliest next week, and it would cost me $30. Health center doctors are generally quite overworked, and can sometimes be a bit dismissive of your issues in my experience, but they will help you. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral, which could take several months depending on the priority of the case and the type of specialist.
I could use an app to get access to a video call with a doctor, after having described my symptoms in the app. I would get a video call the same day and it would cost me $30. Given the remote nature of this kind of contact, they can be a bit limited in what they can do for you, but will try to help you regardless. If your case requires in-person examination, they will ask you to go to a health center instead. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral and you'll have to wait the same amount of time as for a referral in the health center scenario.
I am lucky enough to have a private health insurance plan through my employer. If I have any problems, I'll submit them to this private health insurer, and they put a human on the case and connects me with a specialist right away if the problem warrants one. Typically this happens the same or the next day. This costs me nothing, apart from what I pay in benefit taxes to be on the private health insurance plan.
All in all, things work fairly well in Sweden, but having gotten private health insurance has definitely jaded me a bit on account of how much better the experience is when you have that. If only the public system wasn't systematically underfunded and run by the dumbest politicians on offer in the country, then maybe everyone could have great patient experience.
- Does these costs count towards the högkostnadsskydd? (cost ceiling)
  
  Yes, but there are two different ones - one for medical appointments and one for medicine.
- What sort of money does one need to spend in Sweden to get private health insurance? Can you stop paying the government one if you have that? (In Germany, I'm publicly insured so idk private prices, but you pay either one and not both, it's not like normal taxes that you always pay)
  
  You can't opt out of government-provided health insurance. It's not even really referred to as health insurance, it's really just referred to as health care.
  I get my additional private health insurance paid for by my employer, so I never actually pay myself, but the same one seems to be going for about €110 a month.
  I don't know that I would buy it if I had to pay myself, but I'm quite happy to get it for the small amount of additional taxes I have to pay on the benefit from the employer.
  
  Thanks! Good system that you can't opt out imo, everyone needs to at least fund it even if (perhaps not good but idk) not everyone needs to also use it (thinking of rich people in power)

188 comments