Translator and herbalist based in Italy.
How public healthcare really works in Italy (and it works pretty well).
My daughter cut her finger with a broken glass this morning at around 10 am, went to the ER, she got x-rays and got sutured a severed tendon and the wound. She will have to go back to the ER for medication next week. At 12 she was out of the hospital.
Cost of the ER for x-rays and suturing: 0 euro.
Cost for the medication next week: 3,90 euro.
No, it is not a typo. Zero for the ER, three point ninety for medication.
But the so called "free" healthcare IS NOT FOR FREE. With my freelance job, I paid this year about 4k in taxes for "social services", hospital included.
But when you have an emergency, you don't have to worry about how much you will have to pay. You got assistance, you got medication, you got everything. You pay your share every year, so that when your daughter is in need, she can go do the ER without having a dime in her wallet, and you are sure that she will be treated and she will be fine.
this is our public healthcare. For the PUBLIC. For everyone.
Everyone contributes, everyone benefits.
@marisa I heard it was nasty during the lockdowns. You're lucky they're not going on now. Wait until next time and hope u don't have an emergency.
@marisa America is not the country where the ER and hospitals provide good patient care. No one in government gives a damn about the people here, that's for sure. We just do what we can NOT TO GO TO THE ER and risk being killed.
@Thyme1967, that's too bad. In my opinion, the US healthcare system is inhumane. I hope things could change there.