Posted on 05/12/2012 2:21:57 PM PDT by Olog-hai
As the United States Supreme Court considers whether requiring people to have health insurance is unconstitutional, Germans are bewildered as to why so many Americans appear to be against universal coverage.
They also question the continued portrayal of US President Barack Obama and his health reform backers as socialists and communists, noting that healthcare was introduced in Germany in the 19th century by Otto von Bismarck, who was definitely not a leftist, and is supported by conservative and pro-business politicians today.
"It's a solidarity principle," says Ann Marini, a spokesperson for the National Health Insurers Association. "Not every 'S' automatically means socialism."
Marini and others say that mandated coverage is something that is simply not questioned in Germany. Furthermore, even the most pro-market politicians wouldn't dare to dismantle the country's health insurance system.
The requirement that everyone buy health insurance is based on a simple concept, healthcare experts agree. Allowing healthy people to opt out of having health insurance destroys the insurance community and leaves insurers covering only the sick. …
But there are other reasons why Germans are confused about the US healthcare debate. The US comes across to not only Germans, but to many Europeans, as a religious country. God seems to be part of many US debates, especially ones surrounding the presidential campaign. In secular European politics, the Almighty is rarely if ever invoked.
"For me the US is a very religious country. It doesn't matter which religion I look at—love thy neighbor is a very, very important point in religion," health insurance spokesperson Marini says. For her, the apparent deep religiousness of many Americans doesn't jibe with their unwillingness to be part of a healthcare community. …
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
...’nuff said.
They perfected many cutting edge medical procedures.
I gotta say...as an ex-pat family living in Germany basically on the German health care system, we pay through the nose for health care here out of our taxes. But so far, no complaints with the service/treatment that we’ve received. I had a bike accident this week and thought my foot was broken. We went to the ER, paid our 10 euro co-pay, and I was treated & released in less than 90 minutes. My husband once needed an “all clear” report so that he could make a trip to India...on a Friday afternoon at 1 pm, he made an appt. with a Kidney doctor (last test had shown protein in his urine). The doctor saw him immediately, and by 6 pm he had his lab results back, clearing him for travel. So far the only problems we’ve had has been getting to see an opthamologist. In our city, the waiting time was about 2 months. Then we tried a smaller village nearby, and got an appt. within 2 weeks. They have here at most doctors’ offices a “Sprechestunde”, which basically is a daily 2 hour window where you can just show up without an appointment. One last story...my dad came for a visit a few summers back. He seemed very weak & could hardly walk, so I took him to our doctor, who discovered that he was suffering from congestive heart failure, and sent us immediately to the hospital. They performed several tests, a few procedures (heart cath, ablation, etc.) My dad had some other problems, and ended up staying in the hospital for 3 weeks. They wouldn’t accept his insurance, so we had to pay in cash for all his treatment. His total bill (including doctors care, hospital, EVERYTHING was 6100 euros (basically $8300 at the time.) All in all, I think the German health care is much better than the British system. But we do pay through the nose...
Most Germans believe that poor Americans don’t receive any treatment. They don’t know that poor Americans & illegal aliens can be treated at a local ER. They are just mis-informed.
Actually, Hitler was Austrian.
So, the Germans would be pleased to pay for universal health coverage for every Turk or 3rd world refugees who snuck across their border
And the anchor babies, of course
Surely the Germans bestow citizenship and full benefits on anchor babies?
And then of course they’d be glad to pay even more taxes in reparations to everyone who was ever enslaved by the nazis, for the next 150 years
(crickets)
one word HITLER
Euro pigs should keep their opinions to themselves
LOL, the krauts are asking why Americans don’t love something that they do? These silly Euro-weenies..
Great: more foreigners who think they have all the answers to the US’s problems. :)
Maybe they can fix the EU before giving us advice.
And Americans cannot fathom socialism including German National Socialism.
Nothing from Europe is worth emulating in the US, and this includes socialist healthcare with its necessary heavy taxation.
Yeah, Doctors like SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Mengele were real medical pioneers.
At least not in the sense Americans fathom it.
European conservatives are pro-aristocratic, royalists, etc. Their politics are not ours. People, especially the commoners, serfs, peasants, etc have no rights but are rather subjects. That a royalist would wish to take care of a subject by peserving his health fits right in with European conservatism. After all, such people would BELONG to a king or count, and much as cattle are taken care of, you'd be sure to take care of your subjects. Here in the USA, conservatism is entirely different.
It is about our RIGHTS, and more specifically, our NATRUAL RIGHTS. ALL men are born with them. You don't have to be a king, a duke, or a knight to have them. We are equal in them and in and before the law.
Quote: Is medical care a Natural Right? Absolutely not. Natural Rights are yours NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE DOES OR DOES NOT DO. You can’t get medical care without someone voluntarily providing it. Since you have no right to force other people to do anything, you cannot get medical care without the consent of others. You have a Natural Right to try to get medical care, but you do not have a Natural Right to actually get it. If you did, you would also have the right to coerce medical care from others. You have no right to coerce others for anything. Again, no Natural Right requires the consent of another. Medical care requires consent of other people.
Advice from a people who really enjoy marching in parades.
“Allowing healthy people to opt out of having health insurance destroys the insurance community and leaves insurers covering only the sick. “
With that type of thinking,,,,, if you don’t drive, and don’t own a car,,,, you should still be forced to buy auto insurance?????
I specifically remember running into a German tourist in Grand Teton National Park. This was years ago. We were struck by the beauty. Asc we were talking, he asked how it could have been possible with these beautiful mountains and all this land that the US went to war with Germany in WWII. He was serious.
I was too dumb struck to ask him how the Grand Tetons and Great Plains figured in WWII from his point of view.
I am not certain German logic goes beyond machinery. /s slightly. And yes, I come from partial German ancestry.
Because it won’’t be health care all.
No; Hitler was Austrian.
Inside every German is Nazi just dying to come out.
Bavaria and Austria were twin mothers of Nazism.
They the “Germans” were just following orders?
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