Reaction To the Topic of Health in Germany

I found the health topic to be really fascinating.  It was really interesting to look and the pioneers of medicine many of which come from Germany or some of the more extreme methods that were used for helping people like blood-draining.  I can understand why they would think it makes sense during the time but at the same time its crazy to know that some countries still practice blood-letting.   Other things I found interesting was the topic of Pharmaceuticals in Germany.  I never really knew they were so dominant in Pharmaceuticals.  I thought that the presentation on the 18^th century was the most interesting because I enjoy looking at some of the pioneers of modern medicine and also looking at what they did for medical techniques.  I never knew that the microscope was invented in Germany or that people like Edward Jenner laid the foundation for most of today’s medical advances or the fact that he invented the vaccine for small pox.  The thing that I took away from all the health presentations was that Germany had in important role in medical advances and to this day continues to make medical breakthroughs.

            The topic I decided to expand on is Bismarck’s health care system. In 1883 he established the world’s first universal health care system. Bismarck’s viewed this as the least important bill of his social legislation and the least troublesome to pass. It was established to provide health care to the largest segment of workers in Germany. The cost was divided between the employers and the employees with 1/3 covered by the employer and 2/3 covered by the employees. Minimum payments for medical treatment and sick pay up to 13 weeks were legally fixed. The local health bureaus were administered by a committee elected by members of the bureau.   This led to an unintended effect in which all the workers had a majority of the representation because they contributed the most.  Today Germany’s health care system is 77% government funded and 23% private sector.  In 2005 Germany spent 11% of its GDP on health care.  Certain groups of people can opt out of the insurance and switch to a private insurance contract.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany#Health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck#Bismarck.27s_social_legislation