| I'm not sure what the general point is you're trying to make. Mine was to answer, in my experience, whether or not wait times and general 'hassle' is higher in places with more socialized health care than the US. My (limited) experience in NL, and that of those I know here and in the US, is that wait times and hassle are much lower. It could be that this is due to irresponsible MRI'ing and unneeded operations. If that were true it would be very interesting, since that's the opposite of what people assume when they think of socialized medicine. I would also assume that it would be more expensive per capita, which it doesn't appear to be: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP?end=2014&lo... It could be that all these super-fast decisions are more expensive, but kill a lot of people sooner, thus saving everyone on healthcare. This also doesn't appear to be the case (life expectancy at birth is higher). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?location... Anyway, to answer your specific points: - PPO vs HMO: Nice that you have a PPO. That option wasn't available to me. In the Netherlands, I can pick my insurer freely, my employer has no say in the matter (costs are 100-150 euro a month). Some insurers have in-group agreements, some do not. - On getting MRIs: I can't tell you when it's correct to order an MRI or not. All I can say is that both MRIs were hits for a torn meniscus, and both operations also bore out evidence of this. Both times it was also a textbook case of a torn meniscus based on my symptoms. Both - Researching Surgeons: Yes, I researched both surgeons (and hospitals where the surgery was performed). In the US I had fewer options (Kaiser only), in the NL the specialist gave me a list of other specialists who I could get a second opinion from, should I want to. |
Point I was trying to make is that you are comparing HMO to NL insurance that allowed you to see specialist directly. I don't think thats a fair comparison unless NL requires all insurance to cover self referral to a specialist.
I know nothing about NL healthcare but according to their website
https://www.govt.nz/browse/health-system/gps-and-prescriptio...
" In most cases, you need to visit your General Practitioner (GP) first so they can refer you."
What kind of insurance did you have that allowed you to self refer ?
You seem to have compared apples and oranges and came to the conclusion that oranges rock.