I'm so happy to be a European! I have been in hospital in Norway, The Netherlands and Crete-Greece and sometimes I, or my husband have had some serious health problems in these counties. Thanks to our European insurance card, we never payed anything except the 300+ own risk. If they call this "Socialist Medicine" in the USA, I say ...long live "Socialist Medicine".
Hi, Eric and Tammy as a retired police officer I totally agree, the Dutch EMS personnel is highly skilled as you have experienced. If the 112 operators think the situation could worsen, they always dispatch a 'Lifeliner' helicopter from Airport Rotterdam/Den Haag with a special trauma medical team. This is always done when children are involved, cardiac arrest, stroke, etc. Don't get upset by negative reactions. enjoy every day; YOLO ❤❤
Here a reaction of another retired police officer ;-) About the skills of the EMS personnel. I met during my 38 police working years lots of ambulance paramedics (trauma specialist nurse and medical trained driver) , a lot were former IC-nurse specialists who have an academical background. There are quite a few who have even higher specialties, like handling brain injuries. Some times those were called by the ambulance paramedics at the scene of the accident and came to there. It's most important to get a patient stabilized before moving to the hospital. And yes the 4 "Lifeliners" (each with trauma surgeon, trauma nurse and helicopter pilot with medical extra) are amazing. I call them "My friends for life".
@@dikkiedik53 the Netherlands doesnt have a paramedic system but instead since the 1980 its a nurse based Emergency Medical system with registered Ambulance Nurses and skilled emergency care assistants who are the drivers . Nurses work in pre hospital care and community care since the early 1890 its in cities and rural areas via the municipal health dept. We don't have EMT's. its not America here.
My cousin is a cop and he actually got PTSD from performing medical care on a kid that almost died in his arms. He's doing better now. I guess I'm trying to say that even our cops can keep you alive until the paramedics come.
@@Alex-gv2nx "In Romania, too, the presence of helicopters with children is mandatory." That is so cool. I didn't even know we had this protocol here in NL.
I live in the Netherlands and I have had 5 heart by-passes, a stroke, COPD, a new knee and more . Cost to me over and above very reasonable monthly premiums......NOTHING. That includes huge amounts of medication on a daily basis.........Great to see you being so open, honest etc...PS The US is the only first world country not to have universal health care. Which is double cruel as the US is a leader in medical innovation....pity it's own citizens can't afford it.....
Maybe people in the USA should be a little better educated before they vote, And try to find a politician that is not corrupt, I think that is the hardest part, All those so called politicians have second interests, be it extra income from lobbyists or Coal and Mine industries, they are allowed to own stock which to me sounds really dubious to make laws against a company that you own stocks from . Socialism is not a filthy thing, there are dictators who gave it a bad name, like Venezuela . I still think it is a shame that Bernie never won the presidency. Katie Porter would make a great president Kind regards Hans
@@hanspijpers2100 its simple the Healthcare lobby lobbies a great deal in the Federal Government of the USA. they decide what happens and what not. The single payer system in the US works exactly as they intended to. thats the worse part. there is even a Medical company in the US who sued the government because the government wanted to make some medication cheaper. the company that provide those medicines was not happy about it. so the US changed the laws and the Medical Company won basically. Lobbyists are the key factor in alot of things in the US. Medical NRA (Gun Lobby) FDA (Food Lobby). you name it. the Federal government and State governments loves money more then caring for their own citizens.
You forgot to mention that you will get money (zorgtoeslag) to pay for insurance if you make less than a certain amount in a year. Also children till 18 are FULLY covered.
Eric you are entitled to several things; -Cardio gym, costs all covered by your insurance. Can be done at SFG hospital or organization called Capri at several locations -Sessions with a psychologist, many heart patients find they have trouble accepting and living with the heart problems. Also up to a certain number of sessions covered by your insurance. Same goes for Tammy, it is good if she joins some or all sessions. Talk to your specialist about it, be pro active!
not completely true... sometimes the ambulance needs to go to another hospital because of the ER of the closest hospital was full. But the closest possible hospital is true or the ambulance moves directly to a specialized hospital for that kind of injury.
@@dikkiedik53 or the ambulance just dumps you in the nearest hospital and lets them worry about finding a room for you somewhere else. Which happened to my father, he spent 7 hours on a gurney in the hallway of the SEH in Apeldoorn, in winter, with the doors open and no heating, without anyone looking at him, after he had a heart attack, before he was moved to Zutphen for treatment.
Hi Tammy and Eric! So nice to see you again 👍 Great to hear you're well! And I'm utterly charmed to hear you say you're happy your part of the Netherlands now. I'm happy you are here too 😁 You answered one of my nagging questions I've had for years. In general, I like Americans I meet on the internet. But every time, EVERY time there comes that statement of "America is the best country in the world". And I'm thinking: "Why do you think that? Why are you so sure? You have so many problems that we don't have here." Anyways, the two of you are curious enough and respectful enough to look outside the US. That makes you more than friendly people in my book. ❤
Hi Eric & Tammy, I assume you will be visiting your grandchild again in the US. In that case, check your dutch healthcare insurer for coverage in the US. The dutch basisverzekering covers costs worldwide (at 1x dutch rates). Because in the US rates can be much higher, you might have to get a dutch travel insurance with world coverage and healthcare coverage and then you should be fully covered for any emergency medical costs while in the US. So no fear for bankruptcy as long as you have dutch insurance. This kind of travel insurance costs around 6-10 euros a month, so I would recommend getting it.
Correct, basically if you travel outside of the EU, get travel insurance with worldwide coverage. Not just for the healthcare coverage, but other things like luggage insurance as well.
I was going to comment about the Dutch travel insurance, but the above comment says it all. Yes, this is accurate and well-stated. I too have family in the States and have travelled there a lot. Not only do my husband and I have good Dutch healthcare, but we also have travel insurance through our bank: reisverzekering. I would suggest having this through experience when travelling to the States, as I believe that America is the only country not covered by your regular Dutch insurance package. I would only add to Michael v Lohuizen's comment that you'll pay the medical costs in the States but will be reimbursed by your travel insurance upon return and filing in the NL. Just, of course, keep all your bills/invoices.
Yeh, sort of knew that we 🇳🇱 are considered left..ish, but we take care of our people. In the meantime 60% of US citizens are overweight and likely don’t have the money for care. I’m glad that you are here and glad with Eric’s haircut: we get more face!
A few years ago both my wife and I were self-employed and unfortunately had to pay for health care on our own. My wife had a pre-existing condition and our health care premiums totalled $18,000 per year. One year, I had a hernia surgery, our daughter, who was still living at home, had a heart surgery (non life threatening fortunately) and my wife had some kind of medical proceedure that I can't recall. What I do recall was that added up our out of pocket costs for that year was $80,000 ... even with the insurance it cost us so much to have! And my wife who is a breast cancer survivor has to take a chemo pill for the next 2-5 years that would have cost us $50,000 a year if it wasn't for some extraordinary work by local charities we were put in contact with finding grants to help pay for the medications. It's no wonder that almost half of all bankruptcies in this country and one third of all Go Fund me accounts are for medical expenses. It really is disgraceful.
Good to see that you are doing well! my experience from 2 years ago! I got a cardiac arrest at 8 in the morning and my wife niticed this. she immediatly called 112. They tell her how to start the reanimation and in the meantime the activate an alarm for the neigbourhood for people who are trained to reanimate to go to help and take over. in 2 minutes 2people where on the door to assist my wife untill the ambulance arrived and they took over. This quick respons saved my live!!!!!!!!!! (And I celebrate the day they saved my live with them) When something like this is happening the seconds are counting! Take care.
So good to see you haven’t lost your energetic personality. Still having fun. We are blessed to have you living here. And the joy we have because of your videos is showing in the large group of subscribers. 9,1K!🎉 I am sure you will have 10K by the end of april. Stay great! ❤❤❤
Another thing to note, in the Netherlands, the basic package and the price for that package has to be the same for all insurance companies, by law. Additionally, they MUST accept you if you apply. They are not allowed to decline your application based on pre-existing conditions and such.
Expanding a little on the previous conversation: on cardiac emergencies, the ‘meldkamer’ = the 112 callcenter, in your case in Rotterdam, decides to which hospital you go. They know where there’s a ‘bed’ available, with all the staff and equipment required.
correct. Of course depending on where in the country you are they may not have any available hospital that can take you and just send you to the nearest one, hoping they can keep you alive until a room is found somewhere, anywhere. That happened to my father, who spent 7 hours on a gurney in the hallway of the ER without anyone caring for him) after he had a heart attack. He survived, more through luck and the initial care by the ambulance crew than anything the hospital staff did, until finally an ambulance arrived from a hospital over an hour away to pick him up (the ambulance that'd brought him to the hospital was sitting there all the time, he could see it through the open doors, but it wasn't allowed to take people FROM the hospital he was at, only TO that hospital, by some insane rule intended to ensure ambulances are available for emergencies, as if bringing someone with an ongoing heart attack to a hospital where there is space for them is not an emergency). That was medical error number whatever (we lost track long ago) by that hospital affecting our family (my mother was in that very same hospital at the time, having survived several very serious medical errors that cost her a leg and nearly killed her).
@@fvefve12 guess what, I never had either until it happened to my dad. That was years before covid, so no, my dad didn't have a heart attack because of the covid vaccines. Yeah, 7 hours in the ER after a heart attack without getting any care. Welcome to Apeldoorn.
@@jwenting That's awful and I'm glad he survived despite their negligence. I've only had good experiences so far but as I like to say, people don't worry about things going great. I'm sorry that happened, and it's a good reminder there's always going to be room for improvement and human error. That said, if it was my loved one I'd probably be less objective about it.
@@bararobberbaron859 I'm sure it's not everywhere, and that hopefully Apeldoorn is an outlier to the extreme. Certainly where I live now things are a lot better and the biggest problem is chronic underfunding leading to needlessly long waiting lists because of staffing shortages.
the ambulance nurse is in charge and accountable for choosing the right hospital or other destination for the patient, that's not the emergency dispatch centre. Dispatch center or a hospital overview app with all the closed and open ER, wards, like ICU CCU ER NICU etc is available.
Dear Eric and Tammy, good to see Eric making his funny jokes with you Tammy. I'm sure it was a scare. Good to see you both doing your 'old'self again. It's very interesting to see how you adjust to living in the Netherlands. I lived a year in the States (DC) and was glad I could go back to this lovely country😊
Glad to hear you are doing well . We Dutch are always complaining about almost everything but listening to you made me realize we are pretty well off. Enjoy your live in our/your country ❤🇾🇪🇾🇪❤
It’s often not a question of not wanting to get out of the way of an ambulance but not being able. Narrow streets and heavy traffic often make it impossible.
Hi Eric and Tammy, good to see you both smiling and happy. Be sure to follow up your treatment with the suggestions of other comments to go to Cardio fysio etc. It will help you get your trust back in your body. Take care and stay healthy.
Thank you for your commentary on The Netherlands; the nice compliments and off course the well meant feedback. I want to point out that the Dutch are not flawless. We have our lesser sides. And furthermore I think you are very nice people and i am looking forward to future 'you-tubes'.
Love the channel! Glad you're feeling better. This channel gives great insight into moving abroad, especially the info regarding hiring an attorney for navigating DAFT. US healthcare system needs to be completely revamped. For-profit health care should be a crime.
Last year, when I called 112, they figured out what was wrong with me (heart problems, ruptured aorta( from my symptoms and the drove me straight to the nearest hispital that specializes in heart surgeries. That was awesome.
Glad you are doing well!🙂 My mother ( 92) had cancer in het face ( her nose) .She has had 3 surgeries and recently 20 radiation treatments . And she only pays her " eigen risico " for this year . She is ok ,maar het is zwaar .🙏🌷
good to hear she's pulling through. My mother died from lymphoma that was diagnosed too late despite weekly blood tests by the hospital in Apeldoorn as part of her dialysis routine. The oncologist, when she did get to him after a breast cancer scan showed a suspicious blob, told her that had those idiots (his words) done their work properly they would have sent her to him a year earlier and he could have saved her life.
Hey guys! I’m so glad to hear you’re feeling better and doing so well. What a rollercoaster it must have been, right?! I think most people have been asking themselves those questions after learning how it went in your case. Very interesting you gave us this info! Thank you. And so funny that Tammy had a giggle after how the US presents itself to the people. Ah well every country has it pro’s and con’s BUT glad to be born here 😁🌷
Glad to see you both dealing with this new life so well. Thank you for keeping us up to date. I love to hear how you experience living in my little country. Much love ! 🇳🇱💕🌷
Great video, I'm happy to see you are doing well! I work at a private insurance company and I just wanted to add that contracts with hospitals only apply to care that can be planned in advance. For emergency care, you can always go to the nearest hospital, whether they are contracted or not, even on the cheapest insurance. This is precisely to avoid the scenario that you would have to skip the nearest hospital just to reach one that is contracted.
Hi folks, nice to see you again and nice to see you doing well. Also, nice dutch haircut 😉 When are you trying a show in Dutch? That would be fun! 😏🤪🫣 Greetings and take care 🙋🏽♂️🇳🇱🌮
To the bruises, that is a common side effect due to the blood thinners / blood pressure reducing medicine, another side effect is going to be sensitive to cold / heat. You will be taking them for a year minimum so take care!
yup, trombosis medication is notorious for that. Big reason why people who take it need regular blood tests to ensure their platelet levels are still within good boundaries.
I live in the UK & we have free health cover. Obviously we pay for it in our National Insurance taxes but treatment costs us zero. Prescriptions cost £9.00 per prescription item. I have had 2 heart stent surgeries, a heart flush, I have COPD, sleep apnoea & type 2 diabetes. Doctor consultations, specialist consultant check ups at the hospital cost me zero. I am over 60 and prescriptions/medications now cost me nil. I have 13 different types of medications. Thank you NHS.
Had Covid, so missed the news of the last video's. But I'm very very glad your experience was not as horrible as it could have been and that you guys are doing so well. The spouse had some emergency medical issues here and I think one of the advantages of the Netherlands is that you are allocated priority based on your needs, not your position in line or your insurance or your amount of money.
Complaining has proven to be one of the best ways to get things done in The Netherlands. Because people tend to quickly complain we all work our butts off to prevent complaining. It works fine.
Exactly, the complainers should look beyond the borders of our country, then realize we got it pretty good here. Sure it can always be better, but I tend to count my blessings, I'm VERY happy and lucky to have been born here. Have a roof over my head, have a good job, have a lovely family and wonderful friends and live in a overall pretty well organized country. And if others see this as socialism, then long live socialism 😂😊
You are an amazing and fascinating couple! Not just because you appreciate our country so much. Of course I am proud and touched that you like it here so much, but I find your experiences in our country very interesting. Sometimes we forget how well everything is organized here. It's nice to hear that from people from another country. You also have humor and the interaction between you two is great to see. I wish you every success and hope you can live here happily ever after.
How nice that it turned out so well for you and that you are so satisfied with Dutch healthcare. Not everywhere in the Netherlands does an ambulance have problems with traffic. Cars must also be able to pull over in streets, simply because there is no room. When I was taking my theoretical car exam, we learned to do so when an ambulance arrived with lights and sirens. But yeah, that was a while ago, lol And as for the stairs, as you said, you live in an older part of town, the building codes back then were very different than they are now.
One small correction: all emergency costs in NL or other countries (except US) are free of charge and covered by your insurance. No matter what hospital you're going to. You only pay € 385,- "eigen risico" a year, no matter how much medical help you need. So there are no financial reasons for not going to a doctor or calling an EMT for help. Love your channel👍
for some reason i missed your previous video, i just watched it... sorry to hear what happened, and glad you are ok Eric... a big virtual hug to both of you. Greetings from Maastricht
Thanks for the info. Its the no.1 reason we're looking to move out of the US. $20-$30k last year in expenses out of pocket as a chronically ill person.....that's with good insurance!
I'm glad you're OK again Eric, for the rest, just rely on the good care Tammy will provide. You're such a lovely couple 😊. Thanks for sharing your experiences, i keep learning things (sometimes from an other perspective) about my own country😮😊
glad you're ok! I lived in Rotterdam for many years, my whole family comes from Rotterdam and I am happy you like it there. I live in a very small town near Breda now and you are so welcome if you ever want to see the area here.
I trust the medical field of the Netherlands with my life I had personal experience with it in the Netherlands and they are super professional and compassionate I'm not saying this because I'm born and raised in the Netherlands I truly believe it. I have been all around the world (job related) and experienced it my self in other countries I just love my country. my parents are marocain and they feel the same way I really believe that the Netherlands is the best country in the world I'm not saying this just for saying it. after having children (4the generation)im thankful that my parents and grandparents made the Netherlands there home I proud of the Netherlands and there people and I will always say that sometime people also my friends complain about this that are important but I always say how good we have in in my country the Netherlands and sometimes it's good to stand still and count your blessings we have it extremely good in the Netherlands compared to other countries so yes I'm proud of my country and it's people and my opinion is that the Netherlands is the best country in the world and not anyone would agree with me but that's also the Netherlands opinions are welkome for sure I have nothing bud ❤❤for my country and I'm proud of it..
A little late but wanted to post this: in NL the ambulance verpleegkundige (nurse) has to have at least 2 years experience in a hospital emergency room or ICU on top of that the regular nurse education (4 years). The ambulance driver does not, but has experience and training in assiting the nurse. this makes a HUGE diffrence. these nurses are trained and have experience in the worst emergency medical situatons like hard attacks and traffic accidents with severe trauma. On top of that NL has 4 helicopters with emergency doctors on board, they will be called upon to assist ambulances in severe life threatening cases (in case of children or baby's they are always called but mostly return to base after ambulance arrives and assess the situation and deems it not neccesary). 112 personnel will alwayc call the heli though, just in case it's needed. anyway, sorry for the rant, just wanted to give some extra context about how much human life is valued over here. all the best!
4 helicopters but on top of that emergency helicopter coverage also comes from Germany and Belgium and Dutch emergency helicopters also cover parts of those countries. De Achterhoek is covered by German emergency helicopters, parts of Zeeland by Belgium emergency helicopters and Limburg by both German and Belgium. They are very expensive to maintain, of the 12.000 emergency calls in the Netherlands only about 1.5% (180 times per year) requires a helicopter.
I was shocked by what you were going through. I hope you will take care of all aspects of your emergency, not just the physical part. It really is important to realize this was a life changing experience and adjust to it, even if you don't deem it necessary while still euphoric about feeling better again. And now I have a question that may be to personal, but I'm so curious how your US family have reacted to what happened to you. Best wishes!
hey Eric and Tammy of corse. good to see you are doing oke. Very nice to hear you tolk so positive about our(the dutch) medical care. We take it some times for granted and complain about the cost. You the dutch by now. We sometimes forget it is very good orgenised and affordeble. Stay good, stay save and keep making those fun video's.😊
Happy to see that you folks are "back on track" so to speak, but.......with all the stress and attention around the medical situation, we're almost losing sight on the number of subscribers !!!! Almost hitting 10k now....just a few more ! Who would have thought when you started huhh ???? 😂👍👍
Hey, great video again. And glad you are doing well. When you compared the health insurrance costs, you maybe should also mention that an income dependent percentage is deducted from the gross salery. It’s called ZVW on the payslip, probably around 5.5%. Plus the employer also pays around 6.7% on the total payroll he has. So the insurrance alone is just one of 4 components ome paus for healthcare. Nevertheless you probably still get better acces to the cure and care system compared to the usa.
I show this and some of your other video's to friends who complain about the netherlands. I watch a lot of video's about the U.S. and see the decline of so many big cities. Love to hear that you like this country so much and getting more and more 'ingeburgerd'. And maybe in the near future years even Erik will maybe become a cheese lover :)
Because you normally put up a video on Tuesday, I was worried you had a fall back. So happy to see you (both) back again with the same old energy. Take care, we are rooting for you ❤
I had no complaints, but I do a check-up every 2 years or so at my GP. They found my prostate cancer. I was is 3 hospitals for 6 months for tests and treatments at zero cost, except the €385,= deductibles. All under control now and monitoring every 6 months ... for free.
Snapped a tendon after Malden on the Via Gladiola at the 4daagse in 1998. Was taken by the police to the Hospital in Nijmegen and there was visited by the first aid station doctor, the chief ortopaedic doctor and the head of orthopaedic surgery in less than one hour. As I returned to Switzerland to the surgeon who did in the end do the operation to reconstruct the tendon, the whole paperwork was on his desk. The snap happened on the friday, I was at the hospital in Switzerland on the Tuesday. I had to cover the costs in Holland out of my pocket, in all it was about 145 Swiss Francs.
Good to hear that all is well with your health! Maybe a nice idea for your next video. King's Day will be celebrated in Rotterdam this year. The king also holds a tour in Rotterdam. So can meet him😊 Greetings from a fellow Rotterdammer 😀
I’m glad you’re doing better! Once again the best of wishes in your further recovery Eric & Tammy! Regarding the costs it might be worth mentioning that if you have a low income you’re actually eligible for “zorgtoeslag” or health care insurance benefits which will cover all or part of your premiums depending on your income. So in that sense, socialised health care is quite an apt term. It just means that the government will assist those who just cannot afford that €1500 per person per year (with kids being free btw). And yes, obviously that tax money comes disproportionately from wealthier people and corporations but that’s fine, in my opinion that’s just how a civilised society should work when it comes to an essential “service” such as health care. Take care of each other and get well soon Eric!
I am happy you are doing well! It must have been a scare. I truly hope enough people watch your videos, maybe something will change in the US as well. It is hard for us Europeans to grasp that fear for universal healthcare, but it all comes down to making the rich richer, I guess. I am not the most patriottic person in the world, but lately I have been very thankful not to have been born in the US. We have our own issues here, as does every country, but still. It does not feel as bad. Looking forward to the next video!
I live in a much newer district of Rotterdam (Zevenkamp), and here too the fire brigade shows up, f.i. if you’re in your bedroom upstairs, and the stairs are too narrow to carry a stretcher (brancard) with you on it, down the stairs. Must admit though I was amazed when it unfolded before my eyes. So was my german shepherd dog (we were on our evening walk), when all these cars with lights and sirens arrived - and she merrily joined the choir 😁
I am very happy to see you two filming and joking again! What I don't understand is why in the USA a healthcare system like ours would be seen as socialist while they do have police and fire departements that are part of and paid for by the municipality or city, and an army, airforce, navy, FBI, CIA etc. that are all paid for by the federal goverment. If you follow that line of thinking the USA is probably the most socialist country in the world because they spend the most money in those gouvernement services than any other country in the world.
@@somewherestuckinl.a.3239 Sorry but you didn't explain anything. Yes, it's expensive in the us but we all know that. Old news. The question is why in the us the European way of healthcare funding through taxes is considered socialist, while nobody seems to mind that things like the firedepartment, police, FBI, CIA, army, coastguard, prisons etc. are also funded through taxes? People seem outraged about paying taxes to fund their neighbours cancer treatment but they also pay for another neighbours stay in prison and that's accepted without any objections. While that is an avoidable expense and probably much more expensive.
@@somewherestuckinl.a.3239 Again: read the question before you type a huge useless monologue. I didn't ask to explain the entire American healthsystem.
I am a UK national but had to live in America for job reasons. My company ensured that I had good health insurance. Many people in America cannot afford health insurance, and they live in horror of accidents or illness because of the eye-watering cost of care, like tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Except that, in all developed countries other than America, health care is low-cost and often free. I never saw much difference in the level of care in either country.
My daughter was 15 years old when she got diabetes type 1. Near the Blaak in Rotterdam there is a clinic for children and young adults with type 1 diabetic. Calt Diabeter. Insurance for children is under 18 years for free. I am happy to live in Rotterdam nearby the clinic. I didn't want to see the bills. Now she is almost 20 and have her own insurance with help from the goverment so is don't have to pay much for her insurance every month. Only once a year she will have to pay 385 euro. Now she has got a pump with insuline. We are very blessed the live here with a refrigerator full of insuline and everthing she needs for her diabetic. Thank you for the videos. I have watched them all. Greetings from Lenie from Rotterdam (Overschie)
I see you mentioned the Ambulance Drivers. I assume you mean the ambulanceverpleegkundige (ambulance nurse). The ambulancechauffeur (ambulance driver) is the one always driving the ambulance, and acts more as a medical assistant, aiding the ambulance nurse in the medical tasks. The ambulance nurse is the one actually doing most of the medical procedures, sits with you in the back, and is medically responsible. They are 2 distinct roles that require different backgrounds and training. An ambulance nurse for example is usually not qualified to drive an ambulance.
Your so right, years ago we had an issue with my wife. Bladder infection, peniciline alergic reaction. She went to rest and I checked if she was ok. Well no reaction anymore and a very low heard beat. Alled 112 for help. They where there in no time, they take over the situation completely, first treatment on the bed and before I knew my wife was in the ambulance and up to the hospital. The ambulance staff told me, don't try to follow us at the same pase, drive up to the hospital at normal space. Arriving there all was taking care off and at the end all went well. All insured no bills, yes for sure the insurance is expensive, but it covers what you need! Get well, so happy you got treated and recover well :)
Happy to see you two are doing fine and that you have such good experience with our healthcare and healthcare system. People in the Netherlands complain a lot about the Netherlands and I always say to them "You don't know how good you have it here!". By the way... did you lose weight Eric? You look very good and healthy. Tammy looks good as well, she really is your "Steun en toeverlaat". 😁
Just because we have it better than the USA, doesn't mean we can't be critical. US is one of the worst countries to compare ourselves with since it's really bad there. Why not compare ourselves to our neighbors and peers? Things have gotten worse and they can get worse, so if you appreciate what we have now, protect it. You don't do that by not being critical or paying attention. Or telling people that they basically have nothing to complain about because one of the worst Western nations has worse healthcare. Let's thrive to improve what we have and prevent degradation. To be able to do that, we need to be able to be critical to notice issues arising earlier on. If our government had been more critical, we could have maybe done things to avoid the lack of healthcare workers sooner for example
And also, if you have an emergency, the contracts with the insurance does not apply, emergency is basic health care no matter what. Contracts with insurance is sometimes important but its only important for like really specialist appointments. And even then its probably harder to find a care giver that is not covered by your insurance then the other way around. We do pay a monthly fee for insurance but we will get ALL the medical costs covered. and you can choose your insurance and they are completly transparent on what they will/will not cover example: fysio therapy some insurances will cover 12 treatments a year and other insurance up to 32 treatments a year But the basic health needs are always covered. Its more the specialized healthcare where u can make choices. and we have a lot of websites where u can just type in the special healthcare you expect to need in the upcoming year and then the insurance will pop up for you. so you only have to check them if its indeed what u need
Hi and thanks for the kind words.! You are correct, Dutch ambulance personnel is extensively trained. After having attained their bachelor-level nursing diploma, they need to spend a few years in a high-end ward of the hospital, like surgery. They need an additional few years of training and experience in higher specialized units like the ER or Intensive care. I'm not sure, but I believe only then they can apply for an ambulance position. Special people indeed... as of course are all people in healthcare. Anyway, take care, and thanks for the video!
Hi Sweeties! ❤❤It is so very nice seeing you back and recovered from that awful event🙆♀️! I will send your video again to my cousin who is doing her studies for medical assistance on the ambulance🚑. She will be thrilled hearing your good experience🌟🌺. Is it perhaps an idea to buy a defillibrator? They cost around 1600 euro and you can follow a course (perhaps included, otherwise not expensive) for the instructions👐🏻. How to handle when someone gets a heart attack.The course EHBO means First Aid By Accidents. Perhaps something for Tammy; to complete your medical care🤷🏻♀️? By the way, your new haircut 🧑🦲goes very well with you, Eric!🎉
There is one additional cost that you may see, called "eigen bijdrage" (for medications). There is a limit of 250 Euro per year for that one. In Belgium and the UK I paid less, in Switzerland I paid more for healthcare. The best healthcare in the US is better than what is offered in the Netherlands, as you say, but there are not many that can afford it.
I've no idea of you are a Dutch citizens yet but probably you can get a reisverzekering at the ANWB and your healthcare will be insured when you travel to the US. Any hospital in the US will take you happily because they know that they will be paid if you tell that at the intake
Good to see you so well, but I can imagine that there is still some insecurity about what can happen in the future. After hart surgery I myself was offered, by the hospital, a hart revalidation programm with different aspects like how to cope with my condition (together with my wife if we wanted it), what to eat (like less salt, more vegetables) and how to move (and not be afraid) by doing gymnastics and ball games with other hart patients and doing excercises on a home trainer while you are monitored by a doctor. I can recommend it full heartedly (pun intended).
In the Netherlands, the care provided by the ambulance service is not provided by the fire service as in America. The ambulance service is a separate highly trained service. I don't understand why firefighters do it in America.
So so happy you are doing so well Eric. I know Tammy is a nice lady and will look after you. From now on you will have to take your medication but lucky you can in this country so you will be fine. But keep us posted we all want you to do fine and be as healthy as you can. Take care. Btw don't listen to stupid comments they can't help themselves!
First aid is always 100% covered in ALL of the hospitals, no matter the insurance. Dutch ambulances have trackers, so if an ambulance closes in on a stoplight all the stopsigns turn red, accept the one for the ambulance
