Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
No, it's not all paid by our taxes, we literally have to pay insurance which is co-paid by our employer. The healthcare is universal because it's mandatory to have insurance. If you're unemployed you have to pay the full insurance yourself which is mind-boggling to me. The system is more similar to the US than true universal healthcare, because healthcare actors are private companies, doctors, and clinics getting reimbursed by insurances and the government.
What in Germany is called Steuer is not the same as taxes. Taxes are just the sum of your mandatory contributions from your gross income, including contributions for health care, pensions, public broadcasting, etc. Steuer is a part of your taxes.
The cost of "full insurance" is something like €500-1000, no one on Bürgergeld and few on Arbeitslosengeld are going to be able to afford that. Though you're right that it doesn't make any sense to have health care coverage tied to your employer when the insurance is mandatory for everyone anyway - that's a bureaucratic relic from the past.
Health insurers for mandatory insurance in Germany are not private companies but semipublic nonprofits.
True. I was too lazy to differentiate it and check what "Sozialabgaben" is in English.