[fabian2k]

That's an overly negative and hyperbolic view. Nothing is entirely wrong here, but you're painting every single point in the most negative way possible.

You can certainly argue about how good the healthcare system is in the end, but it isn't categorically inaccessible. And if you pay 400 EUR/month you're earning enough money and can choose the private health system if you prefer that.

The credit ranking also works in very different ways than in the US, so I wouldn't compare them directly. I'm not sure what you mean by anti-consumer contract rules.

[panki27]

While choosing to be in the private system is an option, it only "makes sense" if you make at least 70k€ a year, so definitly not for everyone.

The issue is not getting in - but getting back out before you retire and don't have enough available income to pay the rates anymore.

[fabian2k]

If you pay ~400 EUR for the public healthcare you make 70k or more.

The cost for public healthcare is scaled by income, and is limited around 400 EUR. It's a bit higher now, but I would suspect that the OP is not necessarily talking about the most current values here and is hitting the older limit and therefore earning more than the "Beitragsbemessungsgrenze".

[miroljub]

The limit is ~900 € per month, not ~400 €. People frequently forget the employer matching, which at the end comes from your pocket, since it's mandatory.

Also Freelancers and self-employed need to pay full contribution of 900 €, not "just" a half.

[cycomanic]

No the employers contribution doesn't come out of your pocket. The employers contribution comes out of the employers pocket and is the cost of doing business. That's like arguing the rent for the office space or even the warehouse or servers come out of your salary. Your salary is essentially a function of supply and demand and not a function of cost. I mean, if external costs would influence salary we'd see remote workers earn more than on site ones, because employers save on office rent. In reality it's more likely to be that remote workers have a lower salary.

[miroljub]

Frog the company perspective, your cost is what they have to pay to get you. That's where the supply & demand gets decided. Everything that reduces your net compensation from that amount comes effectively from your pocket.

Company "contributions" are just a government conspiracy to gaslight you into thinking you pay less taxes & contributions than you actually pay.

[lupusreal]

If you're paying 400 EUR for public healthcare, shouldn't you receive good healthcare for that? Why is private healthcare even in the discussion? Why does the public option suck?

[mns]

Even if you get in, it's scummy. Once you get to a certain age, the payments are crazy. Not to mention people "selling it", like a colleague of mine got scammed into going private, he had some eye issues a couple of years before, and when the issue came back, the insurance refused to pay because it was an existing condition, making his treatment unaffordable and having to literally quit, leave the country for a while and come back just to get back to public.