Today we visited a private hospital in Madrid and were lucky to hear from Dr Cardinal Fernandez Pablo, a clinician and Director research at a local university. Our objective was to learn more about the Spanish healthcare system, and how it differs from the system we have at home. The differences are dark and the outcomes are not surprising.
The United States is the only country in the world who uses a private market based system where individuals receive care based on who can afford it. I’ll say it again…we are the ONLY country that files this system. Spain follows joins Denmark and other Nordic countries that use a Beveridge model for health care is publicly available and funded through taxes. There is a third model that France, Germany, and a few other countries use called the Bismarck model, which is paid for employees and employees, insurance is required, and hospitals are private but highly regulated.
Spain has both public and private hospitals. Everybody has access to the public system. Public hospitals Offer all essential treatments, but they can’t take a while to get into. If you have minor issues and you want to be seen quickly, your best bet is to go to a private hospital. The cost for private hospitals is somewhere around €50 per month.
Spain view healthcare as a human right I consider all things that impact help to be part of the health system, including car, safety, environmental safety, food safety. They extend far beyond just having a place to go when you get sick or injured.
And the outcomes? Spaniards live longer healthier lives. Infant mortality rates are lower. Vaccination rates are north of 95%. And freely available mind you. The cost of care is far lower and the percent of GDP spent on healthcare in Spain (9.3%) is half of what it is in the United States (17.8%) meaning we spend way more on our healthcare for much worse quality care.
As I’m writing this, I’m reading about the first cases of measles to present themselves in my home state of Iowa. Spain, and all other developed countries in the world do not have measles outbreaks. Why? Because RFK and the agencies he now runs have sown doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines. They ignore long established scientific literature, showing vaccinations are both safe and effective for preventing measles and other communicable diseases that we had previously eradicated. Vaccines don’t cause autism. They cause adulthood. It’s time we stop playing politics with our healthcare and go back to relying on evidence and science-based practice.
Dr. Pablo explains the holistic viewpoint of healthcare shared by Spaniards.
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