At the Triell on Sunday there was a lot of discussion, including health insurance and health systems. Armin Laschet described the British and Danish health systems as worse than the German. How are the countries doing in an international comparison?
Climate, digitization, rents. A lot was discussed on Sunday at Triell on ARD and ZDF with the chancellor candidates: Armin Laschet (CDU), Annalena Baerbock (Bündnis90 / Die Grünen) and Olaf Scholz (SPD). Scholz and Baerbock pulled together in plans for a citizens’ insurance. The introduction of such an insurance, into which everyone pays, has been “a matter close to his heart for a long time,” said Scholz. It is particularly clear in the area of care that such an insurance makes sense. When asked whether, as Chancellor, he would make citizens’ insurance a condition for a coalition, Scholz said: “Everything that is in my election manifesto is a condition. And then let’s see how far we can get.”
Laschet criticizes the Danish and British health systems
Baerbock emphasized: “Yes, I want to go the way of a citizen insurance, which means that many more people pay in.” The first step is “to ensure that people who are now privately insured can switch to the statutory one.”
Laschet countered that he refused public insurance. “This is where we differ fundamentally.” He was surprised that Scholz, as finance minister, made such a proposal in view of the experience in Europe. “The unified insurance that we have in Europe, in Denmark, in Great Britain, results in a poorer health system. And those who can afford it find their way around how to organize the best health for themselves. And that’s why it is our health system is good. It’s a strong health system, “said Laschet.
But are the health systems in Denmark and Great Britain really worse than in Germany? A look at various studies and comparisons shows: yes and no.
Countries placed differently in rankings
A study by the Swedish think tank, which specializes in European health systems, found the “Euro Health Consumer Index” released. For this ranking, among other things, waiting times, patient rights, range of services and prevention were considered.
Switzerland came first in this index with 893 points out of a possible 1000, followed by the Netherlands and Norway. Denmark made it to fourth place with 855 points. Germany, on the other hand, ended up in twelfth place with 785 points. Great Britain ended up in 16th place.
Germany comes off better in a ranking for medical professions. In 2019, a comparison was made between 24 OECD countries with public health systems – with the following result:
Japan is in first place and Germany in second place with 71 out of 100 possible points in the assessment. Denmark ended up in eleventh place with 63 points. Great Britain only made it to 18th place with 60 points. Last place in the country ranking: Israel. Factors such as hospital beds, health expenditure, life expectancy and the number of health workers were considered.
Denmark times in front of or behind Germany
The California resident compared in 2021 “Best Healthcare Ranking” all 191 states in the world. Here, Germany performed differently in comparison to the countries Denmark and Great Britain mentioned by Laschet: France is in first place, followed by Italy and San Marino. Great Britain made it to 18th place, Germany ranks 25th and Denmark 34th.
The British think tank came in his “Legacy Institute’s Prosperity Index” in 2020 again to different results. The think tank sees Singapore as number one when it comes to health. Second and third place go to Japan and South Korea, respectively. Denmark is in sixth place, Germany in 17th place. Great Britain came in 25th. The index looks at, among other things, how healthy the population is, how good or bad access to health systems is and the mortality rate.
Sources: “Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index”, “Best Healthcare Ranking” des World Population Report, ID Medical, “Euro Health Consumer Index”
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