And here I thought Swiss basic insurance was made to cover any hospitalization costs (minus the franchise amount) as a matter of law, if said hospitalization was ordered by a Doctor (I don't know who else would order a hospitalization)
About NURSES... Somebody asked: "You're a nurse? That's cool, I wanted to do that when I was a kid. How much do you make?" The nurse replied: "HOW MUCH DO I MAKE?"... I can make holding your hand seem like the most important thing in the world when you're scared... I can make your child breathe when they stop... I can help your father survive a heart attack... I can make myself get up at 5 am to make sure your mother has the medicine she needs to live... I work all day to save the lives of strangers... I make my family wait for dinner until I know your family member is taken care of... I make myself skip lunch so that I can make sure that everything I did for your wife today is charted... I make myself work weekends and holidays because people don't just get sick Monday thru Friday... Today, I might save your life... How much do I make? All I know is, I make a difference.
I guess I misunderstood the Swiss medical system, I thought the differentiating factor between the Swiss system and the US system was the requirement that each Swiss insurance provider must provide a basic plan, and the basic plan did not deviate in exemptions and limitations from provider to provider and the government stipulated what a basic plan must cover at a minimum.
I suspect far less likely to be treated as a medical problem in the UK in the first place. We have no idea of symptoms; just described as being 'withdrawn'.
The NHS really is awfully basic when there isn't an obvious, immediately urgent situation. When there is, then it generally kicks in fairly effectively. But if not then it tends to exclude you, for example using extremely long waiting lists for appointments.
It's always best to discuss certain treatments/hospital stays etc. first with the insurance to see what they WILL and won't pay for.
Someone else I know of was admitted to a stay in a pyschiatric hospital (having been abused by her brother as a child), and ended up there for 6 months. The insurance then refused to pay most of the debt incurred and bankrupted the family.
In the aforementioned case probably the insurance refused to pay for more than a 2 week stay on the basis of a non-diagnosed case.
Here is a real case for comparing NHS and Swiss systems: My friend and colleague here (Switzerland) who worked with me for a year in the same company was diagnosed with stomach cancer last March. The diagnosis happened with his first visit to his local GP in London, after repeat visits to Swiss doctors for 7 months who kept giving him all sorts of medication and advice for his pain and symptoms not even guessing that this could be cancer. Within a week of discovery by his GP, he was referred to the Oncologist at St Thomas's hospital in London, biopsies taken, and all kinds of blood tests done, all for free and all very professional. He lost his job here eversince as his contract was not renewed, his Swiss sickness insurance paid him the bare minimum salary and then stopped . Meanwhile he underwent surgery, chemo and radiotherapies in London.
Yes the UK NHS may have it's downsides, ancient hospitals and may be long queus, but when it comes to serious issues, they are serious and have some of the best trained people in the world, and yes free at the point of delivery to all. Something every Brit should be proud of.
When my children were 2 and 4 years old, the younger one had ulcers all around his mouth. The GP here didn't know what it was but gave me a cream to try anyway.
3 days later I was in England and on a Sunday afternoon the older one had really bad stomach pains and didn't seem too well. We called the doctor who made a house visit on a Sunday afternoon. He seemed more concerned about the ulcers round the mouth of the younger one, than the stomach pains of the older one which he dismissed as stomach upset.
He queried the ulcers and after telling him the story and showing the cream I had received here in CH, thought that the cream was the wrong treatment and that the ulcers were impetigo. He gave me a prescription for an antiobiotic cream and sure enough they cleared up almost overnight. All this for free.
Upon my return I found a nice little doctor's bill for more than 100 franks, for a wrong diagnosis and cream that didn't work.
Perhaps it's not really a fair comparison if we only look at quality of care, as to my knowledge many of the best physicians here had their final training in London...
London, or the US. Mine have done fellowships in good places in the US - Mayo, Mass general, NCI, UCSF. And if others train in London, then that begs the question whether or a comparable UK doc has done an equally good fellowship. Or, the extent to which that matters.
You can bring up anecdotes and single instances, and there will always be situations where one case was handled better in the UK and another in Switzerland. More population based measures like patient satisfaction, waiting times, and outcomes - like hospital infection rates would help to paint a more complete picture. But in the end, it's subjective and strongly informed by your own experiences and prejudices.