Hi all,
I wanted to share some thoughts about an experience I had recently. For a context, I've been sick and I had to stay at a public hospital, but what I want to tell you about is what I discovered about the health system in my country.
I haven't got a private insurance ATM, so I am relying on the public health insurance. This health insurance isn't free, its money comes from tax payers, so I pay 10% of my salary each month and my employer also has to pay a percentage for each employee. This tax is called the IPS fee (IPS stands for Social Prevision Institution in Spanish) and it includes health insurance and pension for retirement after 25 years of contribution.
So, I've been paying this tax since I started working 8 years ago, which means that I have mandatory health insurance that covers absolutely everything... And I mean everything really. For example, if I need surgery, I don't have to spend a pence, if I need to stay at the hospital for whatever amount of time, I don't have to pay for it, if I need medicine, I get it for free (unless the medicine isn't available, which is a problem I'm going to tell you about later).
Isn't it amazing? And I tell you more, if you're sick and a physician thinks you need 10 days of rest (sick leave), be it at the hospital or at home, they give you a certificate for your job AND they pay you for those days you couldn't work!!! I didn't know this and I was truly surprised when I found out. Employers are supposed to pay as well, but most of them don't do it, so this institution pays you based on an average of what you earn per day of work.
I was truly pleased to learn there is such an insurance, since this service is used by most people in my country, even people who aren't tax contributors themselves, because if you have family members who aren't tax payers (e.g. children or people who don't have a formal job), they can benefit from your insurance as well.
The downside of it comes to corruption that is widely spread in my country (and mostly everywhere). I've come to see how the employees there try hard to be excellent, they are empathetic and responsible, they work really hard and their salary is very low. There's also a lack of medicine and beds, the system is overdue because of this and therefore its bureaucracy is also HUGE, unfortunately. This comes because, as usual, people at the top steal a great deal of money coming from tax payers and the government budget. And that's so sad and infuriating. Imagine just how amazing this system could be if there wasn't that kind of corruption where greedy unconscious people steal from something that is so crucial as public health. And I suppose this applies to every country.
I stayed in a room with other people there, and even though I knew that public health is so important, I now realized with this experience how crucial it really is. Private health care is unbelievably expensive and greedy people there are out of any control (e.g. they can say you need a surgery just because they will be paid more with that, and when you are so desperate with pain, you usually say "YES, open up! Do whatever you need to"). In this public hospital, people get surgeries and everything they need for free, and many lives are saved thanks to it. They are also more ethical, so they want to make sure if it's really necessary to go to surgery (well, that's also because there is limited budget). But still there are people that lack so much in conscience that they are capable of stealing from this life saving institution that helps so many people in this country... now that's what psychopathy and ponerization stand for. And it makes me sad…
Yet, overall, I'm grateful for learning this and I wanted to share the experience just as another “look at the world”, I hope it isn't too irrelevant.
I wanted to share some thoughts about an experience I had recently. For a context, I've been sick and I had to stay at a public hospital, but what I want to tell you about is what I discovered about the health system in my country.
I haven't got a private insurance ATM, so I am relying on the public health insurance. This health insurance isn't free, its money comes from tax payers, so I pay 10% of my salary each month and my employer also has to pay a percentage for each employee. This tax is called the IPS fee (IPS stands for Social Prevision Institution in Spanish) and it includes health insurance and pension for retirement after 25 years of contribution.
So, I've been paying this tax since I started working 8 years ago, which means that I have mandatory health insurance that covers absolutely everything... And I mean everything really. For example, if I need surgery, I don't have to spend a pence, if I need to stay at the hospital for whatever amount of time, I don't have to pay for it, if I need medicine, I get it for free (unless the medicine isn't available, which is a problem I'm going to tell you about later).
Isn't it amazing? And I tell you more, if you're sick and a physician thinks you need 10 days of rest (sick leave), be it at the hospital or at home, they give you a certificate for your job AND they pay you for those days you couldn't work!!! I didn't know this and I was truly surprised when I found out. Employers are supposed to pay as well, but most of them don't do it, so this institution pays you based on an average of what you earn per day of work.
I was truly pleased to learn there is such an insurance, since this service is used by most people in my country, even people who aren't tax contributors themselves, because if you have family members who aren't tax payers (e.g. children or people who don't have a formal job), they can benefit from your insurance as well.
The downside of it comes to corruption that is widely spread in my country (and mostly everywhere). I've come to see how the employees there try hard to be excellent, they are empathetic and responsible, they work really hard and their salary is very low. There's also a lack of medicine and beds, the system is overdue because of this and therefore its bureaucracy is also HUGE, unfortunately. This comes because, as usual, people at the top steal a great deal of money coming from tax payers and the government budget. And that's so sad and infuriating. Imagine just how amazing this system could be if there wasn't that kind of corruption where greedy unconscious people steal from something that is so crucial as public health. And I suppose this applies to every country.
I stayed in a room with other people there, and even though I knew that public health is so important, I now realized with this experience how crucial it really is. Private health care is unbelievably expensive and greedy people there are out of any control (e.g. they can say you need a surgery just because they will be paid more with that, and when you are so desperate with pain, you usually say "YES, open up! Do whatever you need to"). In this public hospital, people get surgeries and everything they need for free, and many lives are saved thanks to it. They are also more ethical, so they want to make sure if it's really necessary to go to surgery (well, that's also because there is limited budget). But still there are people that lack so much in conscience that they are capable of stealing from this life saving institution that helps so many people in this country... now that's what psychopathy and ponerization stand for. And it makes me sad…
Yet, overall, I'm grateful for learning this and I wanted to share the experience just as another “look at the world”, I hope it isn't too irrelevant.
