georgeob1 wrote:Well then, why don't you and walter lift us out of the darkness? Tell us more about your "Universal", but "not government run" health care system.
Uh?
I can't say if you're deliberately being obtuse here, george. From your posts, I was pretty sure you had quite a firm grasp on the issue. Also, I don't think you really don't understand what is meant by "universal health care."
But anyways....
georgeob1 wrote:I understand that everyone is "required" to have some form of (presumably approved) health insurance, and that a basic policy, providing minimal service is available to all and subsidized by the government through general tax revenues. OK so far??
No.
Most people are required to have some form of health insurance. If you can demonstrate that you have a high enough income, that requirement is dropped. Then you can
choose to either pay into statutory/mandatory/public health care insurance, or to pay into private health insurance, or to go without health insurance.
Essentially, there's no subsidizing happening in the insurance company part of the system.
georgeob1 wrote:How is the insurance "requirement" enforced?
Uhm? It's mandatory. Like taxes. Employer has to pay half of it, employee has to pay other half.
In turn, you get a health insurance card:
The chip just verifies your data. You use the card when you pay your physician, or at the hospital...
georgeob1 wrote:What happens if someone declines to enroll in any program?
As half of the premium gets paid by your employer, he will very likely bugger you to let him know which insurance company you have picked. (Your employer, in turn, will get buggered by the IRS to report which health plans he's covering for his employees.)
If you're above that level, you'll get buggered by to substantiate that you're really making that much money and capable of taking care of your own health care programme.
However, if you're above the choose-your-own-health-care-programme income level, you do pretty much whatever you want to (statutory or private or no health insurance), but you'll get buggered by the IRS to substantiate that you're really making that much money and capable of taking care of your own health care programme.
georgeob1 wrote:What are the standards for government approval of a candidate insurance program that might meet the "requirement"?
It has to cover a minimum of treatments. It's not so much the programme that gets approved as it is the company. It's relatively easy to start up a health care insurance. For example, a company could start up a health care insurance & programme for their employees - presumably getting better conditions than when their employees would have to pick a different insurance company.
georgeob1 wrote:Are new insurers able to enter this market as they wish, or does the government control the supply?
Yes. New insurers are able to enter the market as they wish.
georgeob1 wrote:To what extent does the government regulate the prices charged for service, either directly or through caps on payments?
No direct regulation. If the risk goes up for the pool of insured members, the prices will go up as well (which is what you'll see happening as the median age of the population goes up).
Indirect regulation, as statutory health insurance companies are
Körperschaften des öffentlichen Rechts (~ public or statutory corporations).
georgeob1 wrote:Who determines what services are available to insured citizens?
The insurance company - based on the law under which they are operating. Which means that statutory corporations, working under the Code of Social Law (
Sozialgesetzbuch), have to guarantee required services, but are not limited to those.
[quote="georgeob1"]I assume the varuious insurance providers have their own stated limits.[/quote]
Yes.
[quote="georgeob1"]Are there widespread complaints about the restrictions so applied?[/quote]
More restrictions have been put into place concerning dental services or insurance payment for new glasses. This has indeed led to complaints. Some of these effects have been mitigated by charging people more money if they fail to show up for annual routine check ups e.g. at the dentist and in turn covering services if they do so.
Also, there have been cuts in what gets financed concerning elder care (like: will wheelchairs get completely paid for by the insurance company? Will hospital beds for home care get financed, or only partially covered? Etc.)
In summary, the complaints come mostly with increasing premiums due to an ageing population, but quite a bit of that has been offset by measures like a 10 quarterly fee that you have to pay out of your own pocket when you visit your physician, or the aforementioned preventative examination/bonus system.
state run health care
?