Training Blog

Healthcare in Europe is run through a variety of systems which operate on a national level, in Germany it is a mix of public and private funded healthcare; although throughout Europe it is predominately funded by private health insurance Although their are government alternatives such as the EHIC which has replaced the E111.

Here is a list published by the World Health Organisation which shows the top European countries ranking both within Europe and also in terms of the whole world:

• 1st France
• 2nd Italy
• 3rd San Marino (its at the top of Italy)
• 4th Andorra (its between France and Spain)
• 5th Malta

In France people earning less than 6,600 euros per year do not have to contribute to the cost of their healthcare; but due to the fact that it is largely privatised there is a high quality service without the waiting times of the NHS. Apart from those mentioned above people pay a premium for their healthcare which is approximately 20% of their payroll (employers paid 12.8% and employees 6.8%) this however caused problems with employers complaining that they were meeting too much of the burden…probably because it meant less profit for them; anyway this led to reform. The insurers are non-government, non-profit agencies, which owe allegiance to employers and employees. As well as their compulsory contribution most employees pay an additional voluntary 2.5% of their salary to a mutual insurer.

The French are able to enjoy freedom of choice when choosing their medical practioner, whether GP or specialist, and typically pay their doctor’s fee and then claim back 75-80%. Payment may deter the poorest people from seeking care and so when this was recognised legislations were introduced to help these people so about 6 million people are not expected to pay. All patients, may go directly to a specialist either outside or within a hospital.

The evidence suggests that French Healthcare is considerably better than that provided by the NHS, but as the saying goes “the grass is always greener on the other side”. If you weigh up the merits of both systems they probably work out about the same