The Swedish Health Care System (The Stockholm model)

[MrObama]

Run time: 04:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muSd9xw1qwo   Posted on YouTube: July 25, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 25, 2009 By DU Member: MrObama Views on DU: 2717

 
Sweden’s entire population has equal access to health care services. The Swedish health care system is government-funded and heavily decentralized. The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Sweden

See also:
Early years education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1cNtL-ypvA&feature=channel_page

[sasquatch]

1. Shhh...don't tell this to the morons in this country, they'll freak

[bobbolink]

2. Thank you so much for posting this! I wish we had more information about other countries,

It seems we could have planned better if we'd had more information to go by.

I know a woman who was born and raised in Sweden, and likes the system there. I will share this with her.

Thanks!

[pattmarty]

10. We don't have "more information" here because of our media..............

........censorship. AND, it is really hard to find out about the rest of the world's healthcare (or anything else for that matter) unless you know where to look. When I say censorship, I don't mean what most would think as censorship, ie State censorship ala the old USSR or the old Warsaw pact countries. But, we do have it here as the "media" only reports what they want you to see and hear, Fox is a perfect example.

[jayschool]

12. CBC Report

And how is CBC funded?

Publicly, of course.

The best media generally are run as non-profits.

[pattmarty]

13. I agree. PBS is still Ok even after Bush fucked it up a bit.................

.........FSTV and LINK are good examples of what you allude to. It is a shame that we can't (under normal circumstances for instance) get CBC down here. I imagine you could if you bought your own expensive satellite dish and so forth. That's what I am saying, "normal" (poor and lower middle class) can't get the info they need to be properly informed.

[Tx4obama]

19. Some info in this video of Canada ...

the Canadians that speak in this video say they do not wait in line, can see what ever doctor they want, and they do not pay... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x343240

[Stevepol]

3. Psst. Don't tell anybody this: Higher taxes can be a good thing.

Especially if it goes to support a single-payer plan and a system that relies on groups of physicians that work in tandem.

[ScottLand]

4. I'd certainly be willing to pay more in taxes

to pay less for health care.

[Joe the Liberal]

5. The problem with the US is that taxes are major taboo here.....

They can make or break politicians, legislation and reform, once people here realize that taxes aren't necessarily a bad thing is when we we will get long lasting reform. Not only that but insurance companies and corporations are entrenched heavily here which make it that much harder to get good health care.

[YOY]

6. But but but they're SOCIALISTS!!!

And there are a few self made rich Swedes who succeeded in the private market...but hey...Socialism = Totalitarian Communism to the idiots here.

[pattmarty]

14. You know under todays :"definition" of Socialism that Nixon............

.......especially Eisenhower and probably most of the Republican party of the 50's and 60's could be classified as "socialist".

[JDPriestly]

7. I would expect our system to be rather similar to the Swedish one.

Hospitals should be private, but non-profit. The government would accept our payments and handle the administration of remuneration to the hospitals, doctors and other providers. I do not like the fact that the providers can charge extra or refuse to provide services to certain patients in the Swedish system. To that, I can only say, it may work in Sweden, but here in the U.S., greed is so rampant in the medical insurance field, that we cannot afford to allow any provider who receives payments from a government network to refuse to serve anyone. As for charging higher rates for special advantages such as better rooms, fine. But charging higher rates for fast-track services. No. The waiting time for a procedure should depend on medical urgency and need -- and should be determined by medical board review in cases in which the demand for medical procedures is very, very great.

For example, liver transplants cannot be provided just on first-come, first-serve bases. A team of doctors need to establish criteria for determining which patient should have a liver transplant. That is because there is obviously greater demand for livers than supply. Choosing who will receive an available liver should not be decided by auction -- highest dollar bidder gets the liver -- but by likely outcome after the transplant. Whose life is most likely to be prolonged the longest? Who is most likely to enjoy a high quality of life? The decision is probably made based on those and similar factors today. But with more people insured, there will be more demand for these kinds of services and commodities. It is important to provide access not based on money but based on medical outcome.

[DrGee5]

8. RE: JDPriestly: ??

I don't understand what you mean? quote: "I do not like the fact that the providers can charge extra or refuse to provide services to certain patients..."

No one can charge you "extra" in Sweden. You pay a very small small nominal fee when you visit the doctor (around 20$, both private and public) and that's it! Everything else is free of charge. I've never heard about certain patients being refused health care? What are you talking about? If you need health care you will get it. No one can refuse you health care (neither private or public).

[JDPriestly]

18. I got the impression from the film that the private care was pay-to-play.

Is it regulated? Do private companies charge the same rates as the public facilities? That's not the impression I got from the video. Does the video misrepresent what happens or did I misunderstand what was said?

[DrGee5]

20. RE: JDPriestly

quote: "Do private companies charge the same rates as the public facilities?"
Yes!

when you visit your doctor you will notice no difference between private or public facilities. 21 county councils are responsible for all hospitals (both private and public).

Private companies compete alongside public facilities for government funding and the right to provide health care to Swedish citizens.

The winning bid (whether public or private) receives government funding with the goal of leaving the end service (in other words, what the patient sees) unchanged, regardless of the service provider.

Patient fees (both private and public facilities):

- staying in a hospital 80kr ($11) per day
- consult a primary care physician 150kr ($20)
- appointment with a specialist 240kr ($32)
- everything else is free of charge 0kr ($0)

To limit costs for the individual there is a high-cost ceiling, which means that after a patient has paid a total of 900kr ($118), everything is free of charge.

All medical treatment for children and young people up to the age of 19 is free of charge.


Prescribed medication:
A similar ceiling exists for prescribed medication, so no one pays more than 1,800kr ($236) per twelve-month period.


Leif Pagrotsky on Health Care in Sweden:
http://bigthink.com/leifpagrotsky/leif-pagrotsky-on-health-care-in-sweden

[JDPriestly]

21. Sounds great. Sounds very different from the plan described in the video.

I think this video was intended to scare Americans away from the Swedish model. Thanks. I lived in several other European systems and loved the simplicity and security of single payer insurance.

[FlaGranny]

9. Prior to 40 years ago

for-profit hospitals were a rarity, if they existed at all, in the US. A hospital stay, in those days, cost about as much as an expensive vacation. Most people, if they didn't have insurance (which, by the way, anyone could get back then) could make arrangements to pay their hospital bills and, most importantly, most could afford to pay them off in a few years. What a difference it made when for-profit systems took over.

[Swede Atlanta]

11. This is what I don't understand

Why haven't we had a bi-partisan commission that is specifically charged with
- Determining the factors driving health care costs
- Determining what works and doesn't work about our health care system
- Assessing various public/private models used in other industrial or post-industrial societies
- Establishing various payment models - i.e. how this system would be established and then maintained over time

Take the results of this including lessons learned from abroad and begin to build consensus around change. You still won't get the party of No to participate but it would go a long way toward keeping the support of conservative Democrats as well as Independents.

If this weren't such a crisis now I would suggest Obama should have started with this and then built a plan jointly with Congress based on the findings and conclusions of this independent bi-partisan commission.

[foginthemorn]

17. That would have been wonderful.

[johnnyrocket]

15. Um, one question..Did I HAVE to know that woman had a bowel problem? Seemed inconsequential.

[MrObama]

16. lol bowel problem

lol :D