Doctors in the Netherlands WILL NOT treat you unless you come in kicking and screaming whereas in the capital of Poland you will die in the waiting room waiting 12 hours to be seen by the ONE ER doctor on staff. You WILL DIE waiting for an ambulance because there are so few available and the onboard crew doesn't have any real sense of urgency. There are not even enough seats in the emergency hall for incoming patients so I had an IV drip while sitting on the floor next to the OR where a guy died inside while I was there. I ended up paying 80 dollars for the whole ordeal including a chest X-ray and I have no insurance over there. So yes it was cheap as hell but the treatment is extremely ghetto.
Free healthcare SEEMS good on paper. It is GARBAGE in reality. For example most sensible people in Poland pay an annual retainer fee for a private doctor network just for the PRIVILEGE of being able to see a doctor in that network if they need to. I am utterly terrified of going back to any hospital in Poland. God help the poor souls in all of the poorer countries. Those guys will make sure your heart keeps beating and lungs inflating but that's about it.
Stay in America and pay the price or go to Europe and die.
Comparing health care in the US (per capita gdp: $53k or so) to Poland (per capita gdp: $13k maybe?) is a dumb exercise. Healthcare in west europe is excellent -- often much better than the united states measured on outcomes. It is notably much cheaper too.
See a million links on the internet, or start here:
Dutch healthcare is definitely not free. In fact, I believe it's the most expensive in Europe, costing more than half of what US healthcare costs. And that's probably because much of it is privatized or semi-privatized.
There has been a problem with excessive waiting lists in the past, but ERs and general doctors have always been totally accessible.
Of course there are always budget issues, but at least they don't drive anyone into bankruptcy here.
> Stay in America and pay the price or go to Europe and die.
Despite their high cost of healthcare, life expectancy in the US is actually lower than in western Europe.
Free healthcare SEEMS good on paper. It is GARBAGE in reality. For example most sensible people in Poland pay an annual retainer fee for a private doctor network just for the PRIVILEGE of being able to see a doctor in that network if they need to. I am utterly terrified of going back to any hospital in Poland. God help the poor souls in all of the poorer countries. Those guys will make sure your heart keeps beating and lungs inflating but that's about it.
Stay in America and pay the price or go to Europe and die.