Your family would be richer if you lived in Germany...

[Anonymous]

We had six au pairs from Germany over about 8 years. The parents of nearly all of them visited - and I think all of them but two held working class jobs. They were able to visit Florida, California, the Grand Canyon, New York, etc on their trips. A huge reason they were able to do this is that they don't have to pay for their health care costs out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched the video. While this is certainly true for some families, it definitely would not be true for mine. We would pay roughly $140,000 more in German taxes from my back of the napkin calculations. And that's assuming we'd have the same income (unlikely). While we'd certainly get some benefits that we don't get here, they would not be worth anything close to that.

You do realize that the overwhelming majority of Americans don't make even remotely enough to have to pay $140k in taxes, let alone $140k "more."

Nobody has any sympathy for you or your tax situation.

Well people who pay $140K in taxes — like me who paid $216K in taxes last year have no sympathy for takers like you. You are of no interest or concern

So your landscaper and housekeeper are takers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched the video. While this is certainly true for some families, it definitely would not be true for mine. We would pay roughly $140,000 more in German taxes from my back of the napkin calculations. And that's assuming we'd have the same income (unlikely). While we'd certainly get some benefits that we don't get here, they would not be worth anything close to that.

You do realize that the overwhelming majority of Americans don't make even remotely enough to have to pay $140k in taxes, let alone $140k "more."

Nobody has any sympathy for you or your tax situation.

Well people who pay $140K in taxes — like me who paid $216K in taxes last year have no sympathy for takers like you. You are of no interest or concern

The wealthy pay more because they take more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had six au pairs from Germany over about 8 years. The parents of nearly all of them visited - and I think all of them but two held working class jobs. They were able to visit Florida, California, the Grand Canyon, New York, etc on their trips. A huge reason they were able to do this is that they don't have to pay for their health care costs out of pocket.

Or bc German banks allow you to withdraw in the negative. You can withdraw the amount of your annual salary. And bc working class Germans are extremely unlikely to own a home

Btw Germans do pay out of pocket for healthcare. They carry insurance, which they pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Inspection shelves on every toilet.


No thanks.

Yeah, but they don't have those weird gaps between the doors and the door frames like they do here. What's that all about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inspection shelves on every toilet.


No thanks.

What?

NP. It is true. I've always wondered about those German toilet inspection shelves.

In my mind, they exist because people had to eat secret spy messages to honestly speak to each other during the bad years. They would poop onto their handy dandy inspection shelves, then find the secret message below.

In reality it means you need to clean your toilet a lot in Germany.

I'd live there though.

Picture of what you are talking about, please?
I traveled throughout Germany a couple years ago, went to the bathroom quite a few times, and have no idea what you mean.

https://www.german-way.com/german-toilets/

DP. Side view:

https://germangirlinamerica.com/german-bathroom-fixtures-toilets-with-a-shelf/

I prefer the German design. Less chance of splashing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inspection shelves on every toilet.


No thanks.

What?

NP. It is true. I've always wondered about those German toilet inspection shelves.

In my mind, they exist because people had to eat secret spy messages to honestly speak to each other during the bad years. They would poop onto their handy dandy inspection shelves, then find the secret message below.

In reality it means you need to clean your toilet a lot in Germany.

I'd live there though.

Picture of what you are talking about, please?
I traveled throughout Germany a couple years ago, went to the bathroom quite a few times, and have no idea what you mean.

https://www.german-way.com/german-toilets/

DP. Side view:

https://germangirlinamerica.com/german-bathroom-fixtures-toilets-with-a-shelf/

I prefer the German design. Less chance of splashing up.

Yeah but bathrooms smell MUCH worse and you have to scrub the toilet after everytime you use it. Even your piss just sits there on that flat part.

I just thought my plumbing was misaligned. I had no idea they did this INTENTIONALLY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

It's no myth. They have universal healthcare that covers the core healthcare services, plus private insurance that extends it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inspection shelves on every toilet.


No thanks.

What?

NP. It is true. I've always wondered about those German toilet inspection shelves.

In my mind, they exist because people had to eat secret spy messages to honestly speak to each other during the bad years. They would poop onto their handy dandy inspection shelves, then find the secret message below.

In reality it means you need to clean your toilet a lot in Germany.

I'd live there though.

Picture of what you are talking about, please?
I traveled throughout Germany a couple years ago, went to the bathroom quite a few times, and have no idea what you mean.

https://www.german-way.com/german-toilets/

DP. Side view:

https://germangirlinamerica.com/german-bathroom-fixtures-toilets-with-a-shelf/

I prefer the German design. Less chance of splashing up.

I lived in Germany for many years. Those kinds of Flachspüler were mostly prevalent in East Germany and other former soviet bloc countries, with the idea of being able to self-inspect for parasitic worms. Most of those are long gone, though, most Germans prefer the Tiefspüler and a lot of the Flachspüler were phased out in the 1990s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

It's no myth. They have universal healthcare that covers the core healthcare services, plus private insurance that extends it.

Yes, but its not like the British NHS system. The idea that Germans pay nothing beyond their tax $ for healthcare is a total falsehood. Germans carry a ton of insurance bc the basic healthcare services are very basic-- open bay hospital beds, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

It's no myth. They have universal healthcare that covers the core healthcare services, plus private insurance that extends it.

Yes, but its not like the British NHS system. The idea that Germans pay nothing beyond their tax $ for healthcare is a total falsehood. Germans carry a ton of insurance bc the basic healthcare services are very basic-- open bay hospital beds, etc.

Even so, their healthcare costs are vastly cheaper than ours, for an excellent standard of care. And, German doctors make an excellent living as well.

[Anonymous]

Toilets in the Netherlands also have an inspection shelf, for what that's worth.

I've been hoping that someday the US healthcare "system" (not that we have a system) could resemble Germany's or Australia's. Lots of choice; fewer worries, and doctors earn a decent living and don't seem to personally profit from prescribing certain medications or treatments, unlike here. In Australia, you can use either the government-funded care or private care: I have a friend who gave birth first under private care and then under public care. She said the only difference was that in the private hospital she had a private room.

What I really envy is the free or heavily subsidized childcare in France, Germany--almost all of the Western European countries, plus Israel. We almost had it here, under Richard Nixon, but Patrick Buchanan, his single child-less speech writer, recommended against subsidizing childcare since that might encourage women to work, and he thought it best that women should stay home to care for their children. Obviously, he never met a mother who HAD to work.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/23/that-one-time-america-almost-got-universal-child-care/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

It's no myth. They have universal healthcare that covers the core healthcare services, plus private insurance that extends it.

Yes, but its not like the British NHS system. The idea that Germans pay nothing beyond their tax $ for healthcare is a total falsehood. Germans carry a ton of insurance bc the basic healthcare services are very basic-- open bay hospital beds, etc.

Even so, their healthcare costs are vastly cheaper than ours, for an excellent standard of care. And, German doctors make an excellent living as well.

Yeah, overall that is true. But people on this site have good coverage for cheap. Top employers in the US have both excellent healthcare and high salaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inheriting debt from someone else you are related to would suck more than the toilet.

Creditors here routinely go after family of people who died with debt. Happens all the time.

In Germany, the government collects. They will seize your house to pay your parents asssisted living bills. This idea that the govt of Germany has a single payer healthcare system is a perplexing myth.

It's no myth. They have universal healthcare that covers the core healthcare services, plus private insurance that extends it.

Yes, but its not like the British NHS system. The idea that Germans pay nothing beyond their tax $ for healthcare is a total falsehood. Germans carry a ton of insurance bc the basic healthcare services are very basic-- open bay hospital beds, etc.

Even so, their healthcare costs are vastly cheaper than ours, for an excellent standard of care. And, German doctors make an excellent living as well.

Yeah, overall that is true. But people on this site have good coverage for cheap. Top employers in the US have both excellent healthcare and high salaries.

20k in premiums is cheap for one adult and one kid? 75% paid by my employer and considered part of my total compensation with 25% paid by me? That's just health insurance, not dental or vision. On top of that, I have a 2500 FSA for health costs like OOP dental and vision (contacts for me glasses for both), period products, band aids, medications, etc.

My kid sees the pediatrician 1x per year for annual and sick visits as needed (2-3 per year). I see 1x annual PCP (actually not even that recently but I do get all my preventative screenings), 1x year well woman's GYN, and 3x year endo.

No ER visits. Urgent care only when PCP is closed but we utilize telehealth as a first option when available. The most expensive procedures in the past 5 years have been: in-hospital allergy testing, surgery for fibroid removal, and my c-section plus postpartum room.

100,000 in premiums over the 5 years and I doubt my insurance plus my cost combined has equaled 50-75k paid (referring not to BILLED charges but actual payments).