My experience with the German health system

Note: This post was originally written for Alte Frau – New Life, my weekly newsletter about life in Berlin, in response to a lot of misconceptions I had been hearing about healthcare in Europe. This is how it is where I live. If you’re interested in how it’s different where you live, read on …

This is probably the most common misconception many people (particularly Americans) have about moving to Europe.

That everyone gets “free healthcare.”

It is true that all countries in Europe have what is known as “universal healthcare,” meaning that all people in a given country or region are able to get the medical care that they need, when and where they need it, without financial hardship.

And, it is true that the governments in all of these countries assumes some degree of responsibility for ensuring this — whether it is by a single-payer, government-funded system (like the UK or Sweden) or a system that combines the use of public and private health insurance (like Germany, France and Italy), these systems are all supported by taxes paid by the people benefiting.

Remember what I wrote about our taxes almost doubling when we moved to Germany?

It’s not free.

Read: Should You Move to Germany? Alte Frau – New Life. November 11, 2024.

And, in Germany, we still pay insurance premiums and have some very limited out-of-pocket costs for care. For example, if we want an extra screening test or elective procedure beyond the standard ones, we have the option to pay for it directly. This is always disclosed in advance, and you are told how much it will cost.

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