Quote:
Originally Posted by MaDalton
overcharging is not so much an issue in Germany, doctors and hospitals are paid on a case by case basis and the prices are decided by committees (as far as i know). a broken ankle for example costs the same everywhere (basically)
and we're talking just about what is covered by insurances, not plastic surgery or so - you have to pay that yourself
pharma companies still make huge profits
medical manufacturers still make huge profits (i worked in that industry for 7 years)
many doctors still live VERY comfortable
hospitals do not make profits
and its difficult to put the whole german tax system in one post - it's pretty complex.
but the average tax rate for a german that makes 60.000 Euro per year ($80K) is 28%
and they have a 19% sales tax (but its already included in the prices, you dont notice it cause you never see the net price)
and the inheritance tax is not outrageous at all for 99.9% of the people
you have 500,000 Euro free, for 1 million you pay like 65,000 tax
if you inherit 10 million euro you pay like 2 million - that hurts, true. but how many people inherit 10 million euro or more...
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Remember when that Concorde crashed a few years ago. A German business associate of mine and his wife were on that plane. He owned a company in Germany.. His sons had to sell it to pay the tax of over 50,000,000 dm.
And hospitals here make big profits. They put up new buildings and add to what they have constantly. There is a small city of about 10,000 people near Milwaukee. They have had a nice hospital there for decades. A few years ago they spent over $100m on a new building.
Less than 2 years later, a large Milwaukee hospital bought up land in that same town and built a hospital at least twice the size of the one that was there. This happens all over, in the state I live in.