What Germany’s Coal Miners Can Teach America About Medical Debt

From Noam N. Levey / KFF Health News: Germany, like the U.S., has a largely private healthcare system that relies on private doctors and private insurers. Like Americans, many Germans enroll in a health plan through work, splitting the cost with their employer. But Germany strictly limits how much patients have to pay out of their own pockets for a trip to the doctor, the hospital, or the pharmacy, making medical debt practically nonexistent.

Read the original story here.

Read more articles on healthcare systems related to wellbeing.

Issue Areas:

Employee Wellbeing, Medical Debt

Impact Areas:

Equity, Health and Wellness

Actors:

Government, Healthcare Organizations

Communities Served:

Workers

Strategies:

Easing Economic Burdens for Individuals

Success Factors:

Eliminating Barriers, Expanding Access, Help Rather Than Punishment, Meeting People Where They Are At, Overcoming the Big Challenges

Geographic Region:

Europe

Countries:

Germany

Date:

December 14, 2022

More Resources:

Conversation with Karina Víquez

Karina Viquez is the Program Director of the Certificate in Regenerative Entrepreneurship at the University for International Cooperation (UCI) in Costa Rica. She has over 10 years of experience playing key roles in impact learning, regenerative program design, development project...

Portland group works to make wealth redistribution a reality through real estate

From Tiffany Camhi / OPB: Volunteers of the PDX Housing Solidarity Project are working to redistribute generational wealth through homeownership in Portland. The project connects people with ample resources to Black and Indigenous homebuyers and helps facilitate cash gifts, no-interest...

The Surprising Lives of Germany’s ‘Basic Income’ Raffle Winners

From Marjolein Koster, Ties Gijzel / Reasons to Be Cheerful: A randomly selected group of lucky Germans are reaping the benefits of a guaranteed monthly income. An organization raffles off a year’s worth of guaranteed monthly income, allowing recipients to...

Sweet City’: the Costa Rica suburb that gave citizenship to bees, plants and trees

From Patrick Greenfield / The Guardian: Curridabat, a city in Costa Rica has extended citizenship to the flora and fauna of the city (most notably pollinators) in order to enhance efforts to create more green spaces and healthier local ecosystems....

Conversation with Julia Hotz

Julia Hotz is a solutions journalist and author of THE CONNECTION CURE: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service and Belonging, the first book chronicling the science, stories, and spread of social prescribing. Julia Hotz spoke with Ashley Hopkinson...

Conversation with Andrew Schwartz

Andrew Schwartz is a Senior Advisor at The Common Initiative, working within a collective of experts on biodiversity, climate, human rights, and economic reform. Previously, as Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Center for Earth Ethics, Andrew led efforts to...