Spend a few minutes learning about Stephan and his advocacy work in two countries!
Then send him a greeting, or ask a question, below.
What patients mainly want is first, a good doctor, second, a good treatment, and third, a good price. And this doesn’t change between countries in Europe or in the United States. I think this is pretty normal…. In Europe is all about cultural differences. We have to adapt to these differences every time.
Return to Patient Advocacy Around the World
Dr, DeBuren thank you for your video. Interesting information. In Switzerland you say pay the highest out of pocket costs for healthcare. Are they raised to save money to be able to do this? I would be interested in learning this as savings for an emergency is the smart thing to do. Hoping to hear from you.
Switzerland actually still holds this bad record as can be seen here (USA is however, 2nd in the world): https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/indicator/access-affordability/out-of-pocket-spending/
20-30% of Swiss cannot afford healthcare anymore. Especially dental care and GP visits, which are so important to prevent the development of severe (and expensive) health problems, are impacted.
Emergencies are usually covered by a mandatory insurance and are not the main problem.
I see a difference with USA, where you often fear an unexpected emergency and payment problems with inflated hospital prices. In Switzerland, it is more that quite some people only go to see a doctor in case of an emergency and otherwise cannot afford it and never control their blood pressure, diabetes or some other important points to prevent quite easily big problems later on.