this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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I live in the Netherlands. If I visit the hospital I have to pay my yearly deductible of €350 first. This person paid zero dollars because her travel insurance paid for it.
The Netherlands has the same system as Obamacare. Privatized insurance with government subsidies for low income. Only difference is that the government sorta acts like a single payer, they negotiate with big pharma over medicine prices and the government with the insurers make a price list for healthcare providers on what they can charge.
Of course a healthcare provider can decide to charge whatever they want but then insurance won’t cover that business.
Only recently did the United States start treading into monopsony territory when it comes to healthcare funding. Specifically the cost of a certain small list of medicines.
Of course, those gains have been reversed by the shift in political winds, but there is a potential for this policy to expand in the future.
The Netherlands is something like the 2nd most costly medical care in the world, far behind the US but still way more expensive than necessary. We had a "center right" party in power for ages, with their religious belief that the only way to do anything is for someone to make profit. 😑
Edit:
I just checked and we're actually below Switzerland, Norway, and Germany. I'm shocked!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita
The number for Germany seems to also include Lohnfortzahlung and Krankengeld (employer only pays part of a sick employee's salary, rest is paid by health insurance) maybe that's why. Germany is also a world champion of unnecessary surgeries.
By about 50% more according to the bar chart in that link
My deductible is something like $2,500 per person, $13,000 for the family deductible. Once we reach our deductibles we have the joy of coinsurance kicking in where insurance will pay for 50% and we pay the rest. I took a trip to the ER earlier this year for chest pains. They took a chest xray and had me on an EKG for an hour. I got a separate bill for each little thing they did from like 5 different companies (????) Totaling ~$4,000.
I also live here and I can see a consultation with my GP cost 20 eur per visit. So you have to pay 350 first only if its very expensive care.
A GP visit is fully covered by insurance, a visit to a specialist, like in an hospital, needs to be paid by the deductible first even for a mere consultation with a specialist. Doesn’t matter if it was expensive or not.
And if you visit a specialist without a referral from your GP or dentist then usually insurance won’t cover anything. Except for visits to the emergency room.