I really don’t understand how it is free if you have to pay every month for coverage.

Source: https://globalresidenceindex.com/hnwi-index/health-index/

35 comments

  3. I mean most countries on the map don’t have free health care. I assume it’s a left-leaning US website that is trying to make a point?

  6. It is considered “free” because what you pay (your premium) isn’t linked to the price of the treatment you get.
    If you were to stay in hospital for a month after a surgery, you wouldn’t receive a 20’000 franks bill.
    It is considered “universal” because if you can’t pay for your health insurance, the state will pay it for you.

  7. No healthcare is free anywhere. Like have you ever see s doctors work for no money at all? Maybe in other countries it’s just integrated in the taxes. In switzerland you are given some choices around it.
    The monthly fee will also be covered if you’d struggle too much financially.

  9. It’s universal but not free. Unless public money paying robbers when you don’t have enough money to pay it yourself counts as “free”.

  10. Scroll down to see the definition they are using:

    > Free Health Care refers to a publicly funded health care that provides primary services free of charge or a nominal fee to all it’s citizen, with no exclusion based on wealth

  11. NONE of the countries there has free healthcare. the difference is if the healthcare is paid with your taxes or if everyone has the responsibility to take care of himself. All of the above have tax-based healthcare. Yes, even Switzerland. It’s mandatory to have health insurance so it’s a tax, paid to privates so no one call it as they should but it’s a tax

  12. Bc there is no thing as free healthcare, it has to be paid somehow, if it is by paying taxes or by paying your insurance each month makes no difference.

    So it’s basically free here, except for the yearly quota you have to pay yourself

  13. As if healthcare is free in any European country. We all pay for it through taxes including consumer taxes

  16. It’s half right, half wrong (like most stuff on the internet)
    The Swiss concept with the “free” Healthcare is after the principal: all for one, and one for all.

    Meaning we all pay each month an amount for the Healthcare insurance. As soon as you need to go to the doctor frequently or are in the hospital and hit your pay limit (ranking from 300 fr. To 3000fr. Depending on what you choose in the contract) the Healthcare is basically “free” for you.
    However the Insurance dose charge up to 1000 fr in %. Like you have hit the 300fr already but the doc prescribed you a medication for 35fr so you still have to pay 3.50fr. Out of pocket until you hit the 1000fr. Only *than* you get completely free Healthcare. (You still need to pay your monthly contribute tho)

    For example: A. Pays 340fr monthly for their insurance and has a 300fr self paying status (selbstbehalt). They don’t need to visit the doctor, all year. So their portion is untouched in the “found” of the insurance.

    Now B has the same deal as A, but unfortunately they have a huge accident 😕 they need to go to the hospital. The bill comes out to be 10’000fr. Thanks to A and everyone else contributed its possible for B to only pay the 300Fr plus the 1000fr on the % they need to cover themselves. So instead of 10’000fr just 1300fr. For them. All the other doc visit and therapy are free for the rest of the year.

    As soon as the new year hit, it’s again a new period for the insurance and it starts again. Only that this time maybe A need the doctor or needs to go to the hospital, so B and the rest of the insurance taker do “help” A paying for the huge bill.

    I hope it makes sense 😆

  25. Because it suits those who have a political agenda to sell it as that. I am assuming it is some US leftwing thing. They forget that we have the second most expensive healthcare in the world.

  27. I have four kids. When they were younger and we were all living together under the same roof, I was paying CHF 18,000 annually for health insurance for all of us. Free? Hardly. Misinformation, yes.

  28. Not even that. Its not like you get everything for free because pay monthly. That would be very very nice.

    I had the highest franchise set for this year and now I have to go to physiotherapy and I just about reached the high franchise this month.

  30. Because who put together this map doesn’t know that Switzerland actually holds the record for most expensive healthcare after the US

  35. It’s also not the case in the Netherlands, I suspect this is just false information coming from non European sources that don’t bother to fact check and likely think of the EU as one large country.

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