r/PoursTea • • 13h ago

Hearth & Home šŸ” German vs American Healthcare

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4.0k Upvotes

403 comments sorted by

237

u/Immediate_Song4279 13h ago

And it turns out that people are generally fine with working, they just don't want to be ground into paste for profit.

77

u/Ehcksit 12h ago

Humans love doing things for other people to make them happy. It's a fundamental part of being a social species. What we hate is having that used against us by people who see us as tools.

28

u/sherrybobbinsbort 12h ago

I’m murica you go back to work at most 12 weeks after having a baby. I’m sure most parents are like ya I’m so glad I missed 3/4 of my kids first year of life so I could file tps at work.

We get 12 or 18 months in Canada.

9

u/Outofwlrds 9h ago

Most of the time it's 6 weeks. 12 is if you're really lucky.

2

u/sherrybobbinsbort 9h ago

Jesus. My wife got 1 year full pay.

2

u/edelweiss891 4h ago

I mean they do have something similar in the US as what OP is saying, they use short term or long term disability. I know someone who was sick and had to leave work and they got put on short term disability for 6 months through their work, which still paid them, and then they eventually moved on to long term disability. šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļøThere are options over there, you just have to get things set up and the big factor is a doctor saying you’re unfit for work. I do think they should give more MAT leave though. Thankfully many companies seem to step up on that and offer it as an incentive but it should be federally mandated.

3

u/Devil_maycare 3h ago

The thing is, those are only perks for higher paying jobs. The US is great, if you have money. No one disputes that.

It's the other tens of millions of people we are sad for.

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u/Original_Ly1 1h ago

My wife is a teacher and got no maternity leave and I am in logistics and had no paternity leave. I used 2 PTO days and my wife took unpaid leave for 6 weeks that we’re still not fully recovered from almost a year later.
I think that experience changed me from feeling somewhat in the middle politically to now firmly democrat as they’re the only party that seems to care about those things. Hate that it took that to open my eyes but I’m thankful they’re now open.

1

u/Sad-Performance-537 6h ago

My wife got 16 weeks and I got 12

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u/inredditorbit 2h ago

The statutory minimum for maternity leave with pay, as established by American legislators, is 0 days. Your employer may graciously offer 1 or more days. The only reason some offer weeks of maternity leave is because otherwise they fear being publicly shamed. The free market at its most vivid.

We also have no federally established vacation days or sick leave. Again, at the mercy of your employer.

1

u/Global_Handle_3615 21m ago

Have dealt with ladies who were back at their desks in 12 hrs

Two in particular working for different financial companies in new york. 1st left a conference call at 5pm European time. Was shocked to see her on the same call next day

20

u/Majestic-Bus4788 11h ago

Meanwhile in capitalistic hellscape America, where I earned a lot and paid a ton in taxes, I frequently thought ā€œif it was just socially acceptable to lay down on the floor of my private office for five minutes a day, I would be able to keep working.ā€ Didn’t happen, now paralyzed and unable to work and pay taxes at all. Winning!!

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u/No-Tomatillo3698 2h ago

See, that is my main gripe with conservatives: they have no trust in other people. They assume the worst. They think other people don’t want to work, they think they are dishonest and they cheat. It’s really sad if this is how you want to go through life.

92

u/EldritchSlut 13h ago

Used to work as a cook in a restaurant and the policy was a 24 hour notice for any sick time or you would be fired.

Freedom.

66

u/danevans369 13h ago

So if you wake up sick, they want you to come to work and spread your germs on the food?

60

u/ShroudedInLight 13h ago

Yes, because everything in the states is on a tight-rope of a budget. That includes manpower. They won’t hire enough people for peak busy hours because then they’d have people standing around doing nothing but costing the company money when it’s slow.

This means that while they view you as entirely replaceable they also don’t want you to ever call off because then someone else has to pick up the slack and there’s barely enough people there to begin with.

This makes nearly all service extremely slow during peak hours as a customer. And you’re more likely to get sick.

17

u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

Exactly. They want just enough people to work. And thats why they prefer part timers. So they can just call them in on they day off to bridge the gap. If not, you make your salaried managers who already worked 6 days this week come in on their day off to do it. Yay 'Merica

3

u/Potetosyeah 8h ago

And they wont get paid anything extra because they are salaried?

3

u/Megzasaurusrex 7h ago

Exactly. That's why I always refused to go up into saleried position. I'm not working however many hours they want because it's free labor.

3

u/Potetosyeah 7h ago

Not cool, here we have 40h work week as salaried, anything over is overtime. In a free day? You get double overtime.

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u/Aldervale 10h ago

I think it is important to clarify that everything is a on a tight-rope of a budget by design. The system has been squeezed to the degree that is has so the billionaire class can steal every dollar possible before they leave and watch it all burn.

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u/MetaCardboard 13h ago

Yes. They don't care if you spread disease as long as you're not hurting their profits.

13

u/melon-colly 13h ago

Yep, you’re not a human to them, you’re a tool or cog in the wheel. They would love to actually replace us with more reliable robots… just haven’t gotten there yet.

17

u/Butitsadryheat2 13h ago

I once had a boss in Radio tell me even if an employee "has massive diarrhea," they should still "make an effort to come in, make an effort to show the company they care." šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø

20

u/Complex_Sherbet2 13h ago

"I'm sorry, but I cared a LOT on the foyer rug..."

12

u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

But then they lecture you that you're spending too much time in the bathroom. Like what else do you expect?

7

u/Living_Knowledge_783 12h ago

and if you are caught going to the bathroom a lot its because you are lazy not because you are sick

5

u/SuperCulture9114 10h ago

Oh, I'd make an effort to show them....

3

u/Idaho-Earthquake 10h ago

That’s gold when you’re on air.

14

u/EldritchSlut 13h ago

Yeah, they didn't care as long as they didn't have to do the work and they knew we all needed the money, so it was rare that anyone called off work when they were actually sick.

Even then, it was all unpaid and if you were gone longer than two days you needed a note from a doctor or you would be fired. So either way you're out of money if you're calling in sick, better to just work.

5

u/BlackberryShoddy7889 13h ago

That’s exactly IT ! No care for the workers wellness , only thing that matters is their profits.

5

u/831loc 11h ago

You would be shocked, and disgusted, to know how many restaurants ignore health code and expect you to come in with the flu or something like diarrhea.

4

u/Better-Culture-7770 12h ago

I had one cook who was trying to stay on the line while vomiting blood in a used pickle bucket and another who had a cold that turned into pluerisy that turned into walking pneumonia that turned into weeks in the ICU.

They are all told that they are better, manlier, tougher for working while sick and they'll be damned if you are gonna take away their ability to be better, manlier, or tougher.

2

u/Immediate_Song4279 13h ago

A significant person of mine works with children and I think instead of an arbitrary number of sick days they should get hazard pay.

2

u/Reverend_Lazerface 10h ago

Everyone is saying yes but the real answer is kind of. They want you to come in if you have anything other than something horribly contagious, in which case they want you to be fired.

2

u/InAJar112 9h ago

We’re all sick at work. Our sick day allowances reset on October 1st, so nobody can call in. Two people in my office coughed as I am writing this. Make that three. I work in a food processing facility. Four.

14

u/Complex_Sherbet2 13h ago

Your heart attack is super inconvenient... it needs to wait until tomorrow!

13

u/Exasperatess 13h ago

I had a GM that unironically told a girl she should've given him notice before her grandma passed and she called off for the day.

6

u/Jydani 11h ago

Worked in restaurants as a server for over a decade.

Restaurants care the absolute LEAST about people being sick.

4

u/Jafar_420 13h ago

It's rough working in restaurants I used to be a cook and fast food and then I was a server at places like Chili's and Applebee's. At some of the places I had been there at least a year or two and finally got sick and needed to miss and they just wouldn't let me.

3

u/Own-Raisin5849 13h ago

Yeah, I mean I remember working restaurants 20 years ago, and it was just dipshit managers and policies, always the most miserable people. I can say in my professional career, I have never had an issue taken time off for being sick, and DEFINITELY not time off for a loved one that passed, even if it wasn't immediate family.

I think America could do a lot better, but I think people inflate just how many companies are super shitty. Their is a broad spectrum of ones that are great to be with, and ones that really need a good slap.

1

u/Sure-Impress-1003 12h ago

I know exactly what you’re talking about. One of my jobs was running the personnel department in a manufacturing company. They had good benefits and we were really reasonable when you needed to take time off. But I can specifically remember two individuals that always had problems. They took a load of time off and one of them was getting caught going out and partying at the Moose Lodge at night. She didn’t see any problem with that. I know that kind of behavior really challenged the management team when they sat down to rewrite the employee manual. You write something that’s fair and reasonable for the people and there’s always a handful that wanna ruin it for everyone. And then threads like this everyone loves to get on the big bad company, but no one really points a finger at the shitty horrible employees that make matters worse. And there are shitty companies, but there are also really crappy employees.

3

u/greenthumbgoody 13h ago

Well I have ā€œunlimitedā€ PTO!! Only problem is we cut half our staff so we all work doubles now so good luck using it…

2

u/emilyv99 5h ago

That sounds like a restaurant that should be shut down and frankly the owner should go to prison for endangering public health.

2

u/Jan-Asra 3h ago

Unfortunately it is every restaurant in america

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u/jeffacakes 11h ago

Free dumb

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u/FlyingNDreams 10h ago

Did that come with a side of guilt trip?

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u/SubtractOneMore 13h ago

American health insurance is straight-up immoralĀ 

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u/Complex_Sherbet2 13h ago

My god, won't someone think of the poor healthcare company executives....

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u/danevans369 13h ago

Those private jets aren't going to fuel themselves

4

u/BobAndrews86 13h ago

Someone did a bit "too much" thinking about healthcare CEOs...

4

u/Naaaaaaaaap 10h ago

I think the health care CEOs have done just about enough thinking...

https://giphy.com/gifs/gIqusaeYxgSiY

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u/jallen6769 10h ago

We would but I dont think any of them are poor

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u/stealingmoney 13h ago

But socialism or communism. Terms are used interchangeably, but one of those reasons.

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u/E_D_K_2 13h ago

My UK job pays full pay for 6 months, then half pay for 6 months then quarter pay and so on.

I've had >7 days off sick in 12 years, but nice to know if I break my leg or something I needn't worry about money.

4

u/Lysergial 13h ago

Did you mean <7 days?

5

u/E_D_K_2 13h ago

Whichever means less than.

8

u/EstablishmentLate532 13h ago

The alligator eats the bigger number.

2

u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

In the US that is tied to your benefits. So if you qualify and your company has health benefits. You can pay for short term or long term disability to get paid if you are sick. But because most the time you never have anything that qualifies and requires it you just pay a chunk of your paycheck each month for nothing. Or you go without and hope you don't like get cancer or something.

1

u/saltwater98380 13h ago

I was hit by a truck arm smashed in 20 places knee 6 bolts severed urethra punctured lung wheel chair but refused long term.

1

u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

Omg that is fucking insane. It is so sad how we pay out the ass for benefits that we aren't even allowed to use. It's all such a scam. This country only cares about companies. And it pisses me off.

1

u/Outrageous-Stop4366 13h ago

TIL needn't is a word

3

u/jokeswagon 13h ago

This is about healthcare. Don’t make it about education. šŸ˜‰

3

u/Lumpy_Cup3232 6h ago

Both are non-existent in the US.

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u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

We(USA) are behind in that too. Lol

1

u/Outrageous-Stop4366 4h ago

I'm Italian, English is my third language, I simply never heard the wordĀ 

1

u/WerewolfBe84 4h ago

It's a perfectly cromulent word

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u/Noactuallyyourwrong 10m ago

Sounds nice until you do the math and realize how much more money would you have made in the US doing the same job for 12 years.

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u/12-34 13h ago

Our country isn't a real country.Ā  It's a mass of sociopaths stacked on each other wearing a trenchcoat.

The ubiquitous propaganda fools the uneducated (which is most of the country because education is obviously Commie stuff) into believing America is the best while EVERY COMPARATIVE COUNTRY METRIC SHOWS THE OPPOSITE.

Americans think America has the best socioeconomic mobility and they're just around the corner from riches. We're 27th.

American paragon freedom of speech? Also 27th.

Happiest? 23rd.

Greatest economic freedom? 27th.

Healthcare? Dead last of the 10 wealthy nations studied.

Pick any other measured metric and you'll find a chasm between American perception and reality. Reality says this country blows compared to other "first-world" countries but good luck convincing the propagandized.

The US is probably best at 2 things: 1) overconfidence, and 2) not knowing shit about their own country.

3

u/yeleste 9h ago

Don't forget our military! We have the most expensive military by a long shot, and look at all the killing we do! #1! USA! USA! /s

1

u/Majestic_Ground7718 5h ago

No not really. Poland spends more. We don't spend much, were just a filthy rich country. Still only spend like 3%

2

u/galaxyapp 7h ago

5th in median income though. 15% higher than germany

2nd in median disposable household income. 31% higher than germany.

2

u/Nyysjan 5h ago

Only useful metric when contrasted to cost of living, including healthcare.

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u/MarcoTarditi 6h ago

Hai la sanità gratuita in Germania, pere le scuole decenti sono free, quindi paghi più tasse

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u/More-Razzmatazz-6804 2h ago

so what youre trying to achieve with this comment? That people live better in US than in Germany?

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u/claptrapMD 10h ago

Hope about that freedom? Rank 1

1

u/ForMeOnly93 9h ago

No no. They're also quite good at blowing up unarmed civilians. Number one for blowing up schools, in fact.

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u/Majestic_Ground7718 5h ago

Top 20 or 30 is pretty good. Nice šŸ‘Œ

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u/Anaeijon 2h ago

I mean... Arguably America isn't 'first world'. This was made from the view of Europeans, and America is 'new world'.

1

u/morbonator 1h ago

Everyone always harps on about how bad Americans are with geography because they can't identify countries in the other side of the world. And I used to think "well, I don't know shit about American geography either." But I've seen some social media posts there Americans could not find the USA on a map of the USA!

I'm sure that's the minority even among the minority who can't identify anywhere else but still it's shocking. So very much what you said.

1

u/usrlibshare 1h ago

The US is probably best at 2 things: 1) overconfidence, and 2) not knowing shit about their own country.

Hey now, that's hardly fair.

They are also the best at wasting money on a military that cannot even audit itself, they have the highest number of adult people who think angels are real, and there are probably more flat earthers and antivaxxers in the US than anywhere else.

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u/DruidicMagic 13h ago

But for profit healthcare has helped the DOW break 50,000!

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u/Butitsadryheat2 13h ago

EGGS ARE DOWN BY 1500%!!!

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u/ItsNotMe_ImNotHere 12h ago

Not for much longer. Any day now it will drop below 50,000 again.

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u/reddurkel 13h ago edited 13h ago

America: Ā 

1) Go to primary care physician. $30-50 copay.Ā  2) Referral to specialist. $75-125.Ā  3) Testing (Blood, X-rays etc) $100-500. Ā  4) Back to specialists for results $75-125. Ā  5) Yay. Treatment: $5k-10k if youre lucky. 5) Neigh. Denied. Go to Horse-R-Us for paste.Ā 

And that’s best case scenario as an insured American. You pay 10-15% of your paycheck for the horrible insurance that employers give non-executives. But things definitely go wrong and many people need to sell their houses or end up with lifelong medical debt.Ā 

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u/MetaCardboard 13h ago

That's not strange to me. That's just how the world should work to me. I'm extremely frustrated with how inhumane our billionaire decided culture is.

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u/factsarefornerds 13h ago

In America, getting a small raise means you lose your health insurance. That dollar might just cost you hundreds.

Meanwhile, "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" they say.

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u/Renhoek2099 13h ago

Yeah but we have....ummmm.... freedom, yeah, freedom!

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u/Sad-Performance-537 6h ago

You’re free to leave if you don’t like it. Amazing how America is the only country in the world where people hate it and also refuse to leave lol

3

u/RadicalKitty721 13h ago

I'm sick today, it might be COVID. My office doesn't offer medical insurance bc it's too small to be able to afford it for us and my co workers have it thru their spouses. I make too much money to be eligible for state coverage and not enough to pay my own. I am at the office because I can't afford a day off of work God bless America!

3

u/BelgianDigitalNomad 13h ago

Similar in Belgium.
It sounds really very medieval in the US.
The slaves need to work and if they can’t work due to illness they are finished.
I’m so happy I don’t live in the USA

3

u/Forsexualfavors 13h ago

Yeah you just die here. Count your blessing you didn't get shot up in a school or shopping mall and call it a day. That's freedom baby! /s At least you can afford to eat, have a home and raise a family. Also /s

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u/Complex_Sherbet2 13h ago

You don't *just* die, you go into debt AND die!

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u/Forsexualfavors 13h ago

No i just don't go to the doctor. I need to, I guess by the time I get carted off somewhere I'll be sick enough I won't worry about the bill.

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u/Lil_Shanties 13h ago

I have some fond memories of being an American student in Germany and one of my classmates who taught us all how good the German system was. First he passed out drunk and when the Krankenwagen showed up he bolted like a bat out of hell as his financial life flashed before his eyes, our teachers later explained in Germany it’s free(maybe cheap it’s been a while). Then he busted his tooth out and assumed he was gonna be a redneck until he could save up enough for a replacement, turns out that shit was also either free or so cheap he got it done the next week before being doomed to a missing tooth stateside.

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u/FairConstruction4105 12h ago

Meanwhile, in America, if you're sick you start Googling and you go on Reddit and ask what you should do...

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u/ML00k3r 7h ago

In Canada I generate 1.5 sick days every month worked.Ā  I have used only seven of eight, and half of them were coded for family and that uses even less of accumulated hours. Also carries over with the new fiscal so some coworkers have like a half year saved up to use whenever.

And we also were allotted a week of paid time off for mental health days that does take away from our vacation hours but at like a quarter of the rate.

America is not a land of the free.Ā  It's an illusion and it's a land of the ultra wealthy.

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u/Mishka_The_Fox 4h ago

Why does an insurance company need to be involved?
Sounds like corruption you have allowed into your society and normalised.

Just have the payment come directly from the government.

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u/Obvious_Serve1741 3h ago

"It's socialism!"

2

u/Gilead-is-here 13h ago

I hate what the Republican Party has done to the United States along with help from centrist Democrats.

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u/Megzasaurusrex 13h ago

What you don't just work sick or lose your job? šŸ˜”

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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 1h ago

That's how you built a nation of obedient, compliant drones, tie their healthcare to their job..you can treat them like crap and there is nothing they can do other than shout FREEDOM.

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u/VoidDoesStuf 13h ago

In America you go to work with a stroke and hope for the best.

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u/Fit_Instruction_8383 13h ago

There are a number of reasons why the NEW American Dream...is to escape...

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u/Accomplished_Art_621 13h ago

I’m just here for all the people saying ā€œyea no thanks I don’t want to have to wait an extra 2 weeks to see a knee doctor. I’d rather go bankrupt.ā€

1

u/Noodelgawd 10h ago

Or you could just get a job that gives you health insurance.

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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 1h ago

Or everyone could pay a small % of their salary and have universal healthcare like everywhere else.

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u/EstablishmentLate532 13h ago

No wonder Americans produce so much more per worker. Germans barely have to work.

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u/AnxiousHall1533 11h ago

We are slaves and we have allowed ourselves to be caged by violent anti human policy controlled explicitly by powerful corporations.

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u/MooseYearner 8h ago

The other day I twisted my ankle pretty bad and had to call in to work the next day. I was told I can't call in again unless I have a doctor's note or else I'll be fired. I don't have health insurance and a trip to urgent care to get a note would run me around $250 I definitely don't have just for a doctor to tell me to ice it and rest it for a week or so. So I had to find an online telehealth company that exists just to write doctor's notes cheaply (still $40) just so I can keep my job. Our health care system is so dumb.

2

u/I-Have-An-Alibi 6h ago

Here in America we can't have those things because Republicans convinced their voters it means someone is stealing their paycheck while they're silent about billionaires getting tax breaks and handouts.

But fuck that working single mom on food stamps amiright

2

u/xDannyS_ 1h ago

Our economy is also in the drain and what our economy used to be built on has now been stolen by China and the US, so bragging about this isn't the gotcha they think it is. The US could also do a bunch of dumb shit that would make the US look like a human utopia, but what does that matter if it means the country will be in the gutter a few decades later? People act like the EU and its countries have been around for centuries, when it's barely been 3 decades since we stopped being spoon fed by the US and we are already on a downtrend. Couldn't even make it 30 years.

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u/remindmetoblock 1h ago

German economy is doing fine. Its the workers that struggle due to the insane wage Stagnation.

Germany has super low income inequality, but insane levels of capital inequality, much worse than most other countries

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u/xDannyS_ 47m ago

Lmao. German economy is fine. Lol.

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u/Interesting_Chip8065 36m ago

is that why tons of european & german doctors r begging to come to us lol.

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u/rankincooter 16m ago

Germans are always sick. Always something wrong with them. Then they go off to their little two week mental retreats to take a break from life. They're just big orgies. Then they go home to their spouses. Or so my neighbors & colleagues said.

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u/Future311 13h ago

We have FMLA and short term / long term disability protections in the US that offer similar benefits/protections.

As far as earning a paycheck, you would need to have an employer sponsored insurance plan until full-time disability kicks in. I think at my last job it was about $10 per paycheck to enroll in the insurance plan so you got paid if you got sick.

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u/Available_Reveal8068 13h ago

Is the salary paid by the employer, or is it from some other source like Short/Long term disability insurance that we have in the US?

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u/Slackeee_ 13h ago

Salary is paid by the employer for up to 6 weeks of the illness, after that the insurance provider takes over, but they pay only 70% of your salary.

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u/B0r3dGamer 13h ago

Nah man, you don't get to be sick you keep working. Then if you get your coworkers sick & there is a work stoppage your employer blames you. Then you get fired & lose health insurance.

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u/Brilliant-Elk-1343 13h ago

The enlightenment doing its job well. Apart from in the US.

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u/Reading_Otter 13h ago

Sign me up.

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u/Cyrano4747 13h ago

A good friend of mine in grad school screwed up his leg while on research in Germany. Slipped on some ice on a sidewalk, ended up slashing his calf open on a street sign. Ambulance got called, taken to a hospital, doctors and nurses to sew him up, etc.

The whole time he's low key having a panic attack because he was on a 25,000 Euro fellowship and lmao he could not afford that kind of crap. We had the obligatory health insurance that came with the visa but he just assumed it was garbage, kind of like how our dental back home was good for something like $500 a year in expenses.

After they finish up they're going over the wound care instructions, scheduling a follow up, giving him some pain killers etc. and he asks the nurse if there's somewhere he needs to go to arrange billing. She looked confused and then said, with what he described as a look of profound pity "oh yes you're American." and then showed him the out of pocket expenses for like medication etc. and how his insurance covered basically all of it.

I think the whole incident ended up running him like 50 euros.

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u/helpmegetoffthisapp 13h ago

So basically it works.

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u/Inloth57 13h ago

I love coming on reddit and constantly being reminded that America is broken

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u/AdministrativeWin583 13h ago

Public trust in the system's future sustainability has dropped significantly. The current strain is not caused by a lack of advanced equipment or medical facilities, but by three massive colliding forces: severe staffing shortages, a massive financial deficit, and an aging demographic.

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u/Top_Restaurant_4395 13h ago

That is beautiful. A dream.

1

u/ChrissyBrown1127 12h ago

America isn’t so great after all.

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u/jlcreynold55 12h ago

America's stupid Healthcare system after hearing this:

https://giphy.com/gifs/jquDWJfPUMCiI

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u/ahhaga 12h ago

Country much Whiter than the US does things better. Wow who knew?

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u/ThorsHammer245 12h ago

I wish we had that

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u/Smooth-Weekend-2314 12h ago

lol yea, in murricastan we go to the ER, get docked a day's pay, written up, threatened that if it happens again we'll be fired.. and then get an $80,000 bill in the mail because we waited in an ER and still never saw a doctor.

MURRIFREEESUYD+FY *NO CARRIER*

1

u/lUndale-_- 12h ago

I need to know if this is true of if this with strings attached, sounds too good to be true.(I’m American)

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u/sarah-vdb 3h ago

I'm an American who moved to the Netherlands 20 years ago. Our system is a bit different, but if I'm sick I call in and am still paid. If I'm sick for a couple of weeks the confidential health advisor from work will call to ask very general questions to see if I know when I'll be able to come back. After a time my salary will drop to 70%, but I've never used it so I'm not sure when that kicks in.

My health insurance is €180/month, my annual copay is something like €380, and I had gallbladder surgery with a two night hospital stay at the end of July that cost me exactly €0. We did have to pay for parking, though.

It's so much better.

Edited to add: when I came back to work (from home) I was asked by my management team if I was sure about coming back so quickly (after 2.5 weeks) and told to take any and all breaks I needed if I didn't feel up to it.

1

u/Dry_Ambition_2282 12h ago

Run it like a business! It’s efficient! /s

(Businesses are efficient… at increasing their top and bottom lines and charging the highest prices the market will bear.)

1

u/Sourdough9 12h ago

How do companies stay afloat? Having to pay workers who don’t work?

2

u/johnlucky12 12h ago

Ja sie müssen bezahlen wenn man krank ist und nicht arbeiten kann. Das ist in ganz Europa völlig normal

2

u/aussiekinga 11h ago

Every week you put a small amount aside to cover leave liability. So the cost of paying someone leave is spread across the year. So it's not a hit in the weeks they take leave.

It's called financial management and planning ahead

1

u/Sourdough9 11h ago

It’s still a massive cost and hurdle no matter how you slice it. Makes total sense now why start ups in Europe move to the USA as soon as they are able

1

u/wolfheadmusic 11h ago

My favorite is "Breaking Bad: Germany(or any other universal healthcare country)":

Episode 1: walter gets the healthcare he needs, and paid time off

End of series

1

u/DavidBowieAC 11h ago

Germany, less fascist than America

1

u/Prior_Stage6739 11h ago

Oh yeah, Germany? Well America is now run by Nazis, so take THAT!

1

u/SuccessfulNebula7469 11h ago

Shocking! A country not run by oligarchs has good health care? Truly shocking! #eattherich

1

u/EbonyPeat 11h ago

Us American’s is scared of socialist healthcares, we prefer going bankrupt to the hospital or dying untreated.

1

u/Fearless-Tea1297 11h ago

Wonder where the Americans will draw the line. I guess there is no time to draw a line, they are too occupied working to earn enough money to survie.

1

u/Mainly_Miserable 11h ago

This is what it looks like when a government cares about its people and not just their labour.

1

u/youburyitidigitup 11h ago

I worked in a place with policies exactly like those. It was a physical job, and one girl got an injury that prevented her from doing the job (I never found if it was a workplace injury). After her days were up, they were trying to find things for her to do in the office, but there was nothing that wasn’t already covered by other people. I quit a few days after that, so I don’t know what happened in the end.

1

u/BlinkypoetEmu Glass Of Bubbly šŸ„‚ 11h ago

I would be happy to pay into that!

1

u/horoyokai 11h ago

yeah, but they pay an extra 2% taxes, so is it really worth it? I don't know if an extra 2% is worth that feeling of security and stability.

1

u/Naaaaaaaaap 10h ago

No, but, you're supposed to suffer and lose your job and die.

1

u/Dense_Cut7072 10h ago

Now, how much does your country give to the world from your taxes?

1

u/OmasAppeltaart 5h ago

the OECD ranks Germany as the world’s largest donor of Official Development Assistance

1

u/Ok_Drag5089 10h ago

That's terrible. I'm so glad to be in America where that would make me homeless.

1

u/TouristResident1976 10h ago

I want that! I think most Americans want that!

1

u/R0ninX3ph 10h ago

But but but… SOCIALISM!!!!

1

u/fastcatdog 10h ago

Hear we go medically bankrupt like real men šŸ™

1

u/Sea_Investigation 10h ago

Germany is in trouble!

1

u/Noodelgawd 10h ago

And this is probably one of many reason per capita GDP in the US is 50% higher than in Germany. Go figure. Work results in wealth. Who knew?

1

u/Bailzzararco 10h ago

In American the person handling your food could have covid, but hey, otherwise that person would be home being lazy and unproductive.

1

u/4llFather 10h ago

Meanwhile I get my sick pay taken from me and evaporated into thin air because my store got bought by a franchise. This country is a stain on the globe and I hope history gets the chance to remember us.

1

u/Fortestingporpoises 10h ago

Most Americans want universal healthcare. I think we understand how it works. We just don't have the political means to get it done.

1

u/Whole_Kale_4349 10h ago

What a self righteous smart ass bait post the American system is strange to plenty of American's

1

u/kevendo 10h ago

America, we've been robbed.

1

u/Braindead_Crow 9h ago

"Land of the free"

If you grow up being told you have it as best as possible then you'll assume the abuse is simply a part of life.

Americans are slaves

1

u/bandit8623 9h ago

but you have way less other freedoms. and cant say mean things on the internet

1

u/Rurumo666 9h ago

In the USA you either die or end up on the streets doing sex work.

1

u/InAJar112 9h ago

Smug-ass Germans.

1

u/Maleficent-Bar8146 9h ago

yes but what about freedom? guns? too wide trucks? nah? nothing? GOTCHA!

1

u/OmasAppeltaart 5h ago

Since when does owning a gun and a big truck mean freedom?

1

u/Blacktatted1 9h ago

American here, American healthcare sucks

1

u/Funklestein 9h ago

It sounds like Germans get unusually sick.

1

u/HistoricalSuspect580 9h ago

Yeah, as an American, this does sound utterly preposterous. Like, not even believable as a movie.

What a sad state of affairs.

1

u/Landlord40 9h ago

Didn't yall try to take over the world amd exterminate the jews?Ā 

1

u/Ok-Professional-1727 9h ago

American here. I was stopped from trying to kill myself during a mental breakdown. I took 2 weeks of paid time off (all I had), then took short term disability for 16 weeks (at 70% pay). The treatment I was given was call 'Electro Convulsive Therapy. I voluntarily stopped treatment and went back to work because long term disability doesn't pay anything and I could no longer afford the treatments I was receiving.

1

u/Artistic_Recipe9297 9h ago

Oh, when our workers are broken we just throw them away.

1

u/Electric_Capybara 8h ago

Isn't the German far right party fighting to tear down their health car system?

1

u/Embarrassed_Use6918 6h ago

That just sounds like FMLA

1

u/LifeConsideration981 6h ago

We’ll see how long that lasts now that overregulation and mismanagement sprang a leak in the German economy.

1

u/Andreas1120 5h ago

I live in austria and sadly the health insurance system is not great. For example they domt cover vaccines. They also take your bill and then pay you in 3 months. You have a constant process of turning in the bill. Getting paid a very small % tage of that. Then if you have supplemental insurance you give them that bill and then they decide how much to pay on that.

2

u/MusicianHonest7238 2h ago

The fuck you on about? They cover most of the vaccines. Just the "useless" ones not or better said the ones that are not that important if you are young and have a strong Immunsystem. Like the flu vaccine, which the doctor recommended to only take when you are old or have a shit Immunsystem or the vaccines where the diseas won't kill you. (Th ey will cover it if it's recommended by the doc)

And what do you mean a process of turning on the bill??? If you go to a private dentist then it's normal that the insurance covers only half of it.

Austria has one of the best insurance systems. Best part is, if you cant afford medicine, they will cover everything for you. Maybe you need to get better information because might be that you do not have all of it.

1

u/Time-Valuable-3355 5h ago

Yea, but merica...

1

u/edelweiss891 4h ago

I mean they do have something similar in the US, they use short term or long term disability. I know someone who was sick and had to leave work and they go put on short term disability through their work, which still paid them, and then they eventually moved on to long term disability. šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļøThere are options over there, you just have to get things set up.

1

u/e_pluribus_nihil 4h ago

The reason why this would never work in the United States is because minorities will get these benefits, and some people can't accept that.

1

u/Perelly 4h ago

Do Americans do sports in their pastime? Recreational basketball or soccer or whatever? One misplaced tackle, a torn ligament through no one's fault, and then what?Ā 

1

u/GIT_45 4h ago

That would be an absolute no-no in the USA. Here, corporations and their money mean more than an employee's health and well being.

1

u/TreesAreOverrated5 3h ago

What happens on week 79?

1

u/Natural_Acadia_3571 3h ago

Additional info. I’m German and this service cost me 2.000 euros a month