Switzerland to recognise homeopathy as legitimate medicine

[MinnieBlum]

1. Swiss health care

Having lived for many years in Switzerland, many alternative medical treatments have always been covered by some insurance policies.

Obamacare is based on Romneycare which was basically a reinterpretation of the Swiss system of private health care. In Switzerland, every resident from birth (or from arrival in the country) must purchase private health insurance. If a resident is financially incapable (and the Swiss really mean financially incapable, not unwilling to part with the money), the Cantonal governments can subsidize part or all of the insurance coverage.

Health insurance is expensive unless your employer pays for it of course (which is very, very rare in Switzerland). And if you want coverage for alternative medicines, that's even more expensive. There is no Medicare system as there is here, so elderly people (unless they are indigent) still have to pay high premiums.

Health care is excellent though, ranking among the best in the world. I had a 25 year old part-time employee, a girl from Texas. She was doing her master's degree at the Interpreter's School in Geneva. She complained bitterly about being obliged to purchase healthcare as her mother's US policy no longer covered her and, in any case, the Swiss don't accept foreign policies for people who are resident in Switzerland.

She was diagnosed a few months after she had arrived with Stage IV renal cell carcinoma which has a prognosis of 6 months to live. A kidney had to be removed. Then brain surgery to remove tumors. Further brain surgery to remove tumors. Gall bladder surgery. She was in and out of the hospital over a 2 year period and taking a medication which cost $7K a month as chemo does not work with renal cell carcinoma. She lived for more than 3 years despite the initial estimate of 6 months. She couldn't return to the States because she had no health insurance there and her Swiss coverage didn't extend to the US.

Despite the fact it must have been obvious to her physicians her case was hopeless, they spared no effort and no expense in trying desperately to save her life. She must have racked up millions of dollars in hospital bills alone.

So much for "death panels".