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You may be interested to look at the Australian health system, with a dual system of free cover for all, and the option of private insurance and private treatment (option of staying in a hospital with nicer rooms and the ability to choose your own doctor) -

Good care is incentivised for all

(many of the expensive drugs mentioned in the article, for example rituximab and the breast cancer treatment drug Herceptin, and many other drugs that would cost >$50,000 for an individual, are bought by the government and made available for anyone who needs them for a maximum cost of $36.10)

And doctors can still earn good money in private practice if they so desire

As a side note I am currently an Australian medical student taking a surgical placement in a Boston hospital. A surgeon in Australia can easily make the same amount of money as an American surgeon; they will earn on average twice as much during their training years (base salary for a first year graduate in aus is ~$56,000 extending up to ~$80,000 with overtime (paid hourly) vs ~$45k for an intern in the states who is salaried and not paid overtime.

First year attendings/consultants in Australia generally take home $200-250k, exactly on par with US doctors

With the added advantage of not having 200-500k in student debt (I have been a student for 10 years by the time I graduate later his year and will have $45k in student debt)




I believe the system we have here in Germany is quite similar and yes, I think it's working rather well.




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