Another Estonian chiming in here, the criteria above are about right. Being in school (incl university), or over the retirement age, or disabled, are some other criteria that also give you healthcare.
Anyway, something else to consider is that China’s system is similar to the American one, in that 1) Insurance isn’t guaranteed to everyone and 2) Some people have mandatory insurance, but it’s private, through the employer, as well as 3) you still have to pay out of pocket too. Yet in comparisons, their system is praised, while the US system is criticized. I personally think neither is great (even if the Chinese system is better). As such, if China is marked as universal health coverage, you can also mark US as having it, since they’re only 3 percentage points apart in the actual coverage (92% for USA vs 95% for China), neither country has 100% coverage. Neither do we in Estonia have 100% coverage, but at least here it’s fairly easy to get for anyone except poor entrepreneurs (if you’re on the board of a company, or own a company, but can’t afford to pay minimum wage’s worth of social tax on yourself, you don’t get healthcare, because you can’t register as unemployed). This seems weird, as in “what do you mean poor entrepreneurs”, but thing is, a lot of people are hustlers, and if you’re hustling, it’s best to have your own company for 1) VAT refunds if applicable and 2) to protect yourself in terms of liability, as well as 3) to simplify taxes and accounting (companies usually prefer dealing with other companies rather than private citizens). Registering a company costs like 200€ and almost anyone can do it, there are no annual fees either.
I have aunts in China right now, China’s system is basically just Obamacare, and its recent; in 2010 when my family left mainland China, that didn’t even exist yet.
Another Estonian chiming in here, the criteria above are about right. Being in school (incl university), or over the retirement age, or disabled, are some other criteria that also give you healthcare.
Anyway, something else to consider is that China’s system is similar to the American one, in that 1) Insurance isn’t guaranteed to everyone and 2) Some people have mandatory insurance, but it’s private, through the employer, as well as 3) you still have to pay out of pocket too. Yet in comparisons, their system is praised, while the US system is criticized. I personally think neither is great (even if the Chinese system is better). As such, if China is marked as universal health coverage, you can also mark US as having it, since they’re only 3 percentage points apart in the actual coverage (92% for USA vs 95% for China), neither country has 100% coverage. Neither do we in Estonia have 100% coverage, but at least here it’s fairly easy to get for anyone except poor entrepreneurs (if you’re on the board of a company, or own a company, but can’t afford to pay minimum wage’s worth of social tax on yourself, you don’t get healthcare, because you can’t register as unemployed). This seems weird, as in “what do you mean poor entrepreneurs”, but thing is, a lot of people are hustlers, and if you’re hustling, it’s best to have your own company for 1) VAT refunds if applicable and 2) to protect yourself in terms of liability, as well as 3) to simplify taxes and accounting (companies usually prefer dealing with other companies rather than private citizens). Registering a company costs like 200€ and almost anyone can do it, there are no annual fees either.
I have aunts in China right now, China’s system is basically just Obamacare, and its recent; in 2010 when my family left mainland China, that didn’t even exist yet.