I have never heard of anybody fly from Austria to the US because the medical care here wasn't good enough, or because some procedure was not available.
I've only heard of people travel to get dental work done cheaper (not to the US).
The only complaint I've heard is that some procedures (eg. joint replacements) have a waiting list, so if a doctor decides that you don't need it urgently, you may have to wait a few months. I don't know what the situation for these procedures is like in the US.
Just because it's publicly funded doesn't mean it's bad quality. It just means there's no incentive to charge ridiculous amounts for procedures.
Also, Doctors still earn a decent salary here. Maybe not comparable to US salaries in absolute numbers, but it's enough to live a very comfortable life, and they don't have any students loans to pay back...
First of all, the idea of a “wait list” is terrible in and of itself. That’s called rationing. And it’s only “okay” for now assuming the public finances don’t deteriorate. Anecdotally you’re not the first person from a rationed system to mention long wait lines.
Second, I believe Austria has great care and smart surgeons etc. But again there’s a vast difference between “good” and “outstanding/ first in class”. I’m not cheerleading the current US system, I think it’s terrible that it’s a monstrosity that leans more socialist than free market and everyone gets the worst of both worlds.
But seriously, let’s not argue where most medical innovation and drug breakthroughs come from. Before everyone goes into a rage, I’m not saying all innovation, but most. Kinda like there are tech hubs around the world but right now the center of gravitas is mostly SF.
> First of all, the idea of a “wait list” is terrible in and of itself. That’s called rationing.
What do you want to do? There are only so many operating theaters, and only so many surgical teams, and demand is greater. So you have two options:
- offer the procedure to whoever pays the most / has the best insurance / has good connections
- prioritise patients based on how urgently they need the procedure
I prefer the latter -- grandma had to wait a few months, but she got her new knee joint. She gets the same medical treatment as the president. You could pay extra to get a nicer room in the hospital, but you can't pay to get better medical care (At least in theory -- we have some amount of corruption just like everywhere else)
Of course, it would be even nicer if nobody had to wait! I don't know what the situation in the US is like. Do hospitals in the US not need to "ration" certain procedures? Do they have enough capacity to treat everyone who needs a joint replacement without any waiting time?
I've read that a lot of people in the US don't have good health insurance and can't afford the care they need. To me that sounds like rationing care based on who has the most money.
Your other point, that most medical innovation originates from the US, sounds implausible to me. People from the US only hear about US achievements, so they think nobody else achieves anything.
For example, take the wikipedia article on fetal surgery: It lists 3 hospitals in the US that perform fetal surgery, and 1 in Canada. So clearly the US is the world leader in fetal surgery!
But then you look at the German wikipedia page, we see a list of 5 hospitals in Germany and 2 in the US. Obviously Germany is the world leader in fetal surgery!
(Neither article bothers mentioning Austrian hospitals that perform fetal surgery)
Super late reply (not sure if you'll see this), but no, there is no rationing like that in the US. If you need a procedure, it gets done in the next few days/week (depends on the urgency)
I've only heard of people travel to get dental work done cheaper (not to the US).
The only complaint I've heard is that some procedures (eg. joint replacements) have a waiting list, so if a doctor decides that you don't need it urgently, you may have to wait a few months. I don't know what the situation for these procedures is like in the US.
Just because it's publicly funded doesn't mean it's bad quality. It just means there's no incentive to charge ridiculous amounts for procedures.
Also, Doctors still earn a decent salary here. Maybe not comparable to US salaries in absolute numbers, but it's enough to live a very comfortable life, and they don't have any students loans to pay back...