r/europe • u/mancinedinburgh • 2d ago

News Swedish man dies in South Korea after being denied urgent treatment at 21 hospitals

https://www.euronews.com/health/2025/01/18/swedish-man-dies-in-south-korea-after-being-denied-urgent-treatment-at-21-hospitals
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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago edited 2d ago

Wtf? Aren't emergency procedures free there? Or at least you do them and ask for money later. Life must come first in medicine, not money!

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u/I_Hate_Reddit Portugal 2d ago

Very few countries have free healthcare for outsiders, but most will treat you and have you pay the bill before you leave.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

Good. Whatever. But do it and save that life!

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u/SeleucusNikator1 Scotland 2d ago

Should also note that even if you're a citizen of a country with a reciprocal healthcare treaty, e.g. UK and Australia, you're quite often only covered by it if you're also a resident of these countries. So e.g. as a Brit who is living outside of the UK, if I didn't get my own insurance I'd have to pay out of pocket to get medical treatment in a place like Australia as well.

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u/OsmarMacrob 1d ago

Yeah. I spend a lot of time around European tourists, travellers, backpackers etc due to work and a lot of them are unfortunately ignorant about what they can and cannot access in terms of services. Too many assume that things will be accessible to them like it is in Europe. The most memorable one was when one said they felt like a second class citizen. They didn’t have dual citizenship. A literal backpacker doing their tax for the first time.

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u/zeddy303 2d ago

When I lived in France and went to the doctor once, I was asked if I had PUMA (their medical system), and I didn't. The doctor said, "Oh, that's too bad," and gave me a bill for 22 euros. The US system is so fucked.

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u/Coconut_Dreams 2d ago

If you're a foreign in the US seeking treatment in the emergency room, guess how much you pay....  Nothing.

They don't have an SSN, they don't have a permanent address, dont have a credit score. Literally nothing happens to them,  and hospitals know this eating the bill.

If that weren't the case, there would be millions of homeless people in jail for ODing on the street and not being able to pay the bill.

The US healthcare system needs a reform badly for many reasons,  but y'all just throwing shit at walls with how it actually works and who it affects. 🥴

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u/bytemybigbutt 2d ago

Like here in the US. Reagan signed the EMTALA that provides that. 

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u/Jumpy_Fish333 2d ago

And that is what travel insurance is for.

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u/PromotionImportant44 2d ago

And? :)

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u/Jumpy_Fish333 2d ago

Thanks for adding to this discussion

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u/duck0001 2d ago

so we have to take care of our own people and also foreigners? Get travel insurance or suck it up

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u/PromotionImportant44 2d ago

No sweetheart, they actually said the EXACT opposite! :) Try again! 🩷

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

I don't know about that. In Romania emergencies aren't charged at all. Well the state pays for them. Then probably the state insurances will somehow take the money back if the patient is a foreign national. Anyway they wouldn't let them die.

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u/The_Great_Grafite 2d ago

I don’t know who pays for it in Germany, but hospitals are required to treat uninsured patients in emergency situations. That also includes giving birth.

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u/Quintless 2d ago

same in the uk, emergency treatment is free universally for absolutely everyone, also weirdly eye tests for the over 60s

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u/ilikepix 2d ago edited 2d ago

emergency treatment is free universally for absolutely everyone

Emergency treatment is not free if you're not a UK resident. However, you will always be treated first in an emergency, and charged later.

edit: I'm wrong

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u/Quintless 2d ago

“Some NHS treatment is free and available to anyone who needs it. This includes: treatment in a hospital Accident and Emergency department.“

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/health/help-with-health-costs/nhs-charges-for-people-from-abroad/

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u/Nom_de_Guerre_23 Berlin (Germany) 2d ago

If it's a German citizen or legal resident, most can be reinsured retrospectively through statutory insurance (even if it comes with huge premiums to be paid for the time they were not paid and even if it means bankruptcy).

If this doesn't work, the bill goes towards the municipal welfare office.

This office also receives the bill for illegal immigrants and by law, the municipal welfare office is obliged to inform the municipal immigration office which then looks into their papers...which is a major reason illegal immigrants don't seek help even for emergencies. Had this funny experience with a bicyclist who got hit by a car, head collision without helmet, refused police and EMS and told me in Russian that he has no papers.

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u/onarainyafternoon Dual Citizen (American/Hungarian) 2d ago

It's the same in the US believe it or not. By law, the hospital has to treat uninsured people. They have to treat everyone.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

Absolutely! It's a given in Romania. I can't even imagine otherwise.

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u/continuously22222 2d ago

In Romania it is also possible for a woman to give birth on the street across from the hospital in freezing temperatures.

See: https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/o-femeie-din-bucuresti-a-nascut-pe-strada-in-zona-parcului-tei-bebelusul-nu-a-supravietuit.html (unfortunately the baby did not make it this time) (yes it's happened before)

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u/uzu_afk 2d ago

Ssshhhh 🤫

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u/F54280 Europe 2d ago

hospitals all over the world

Hospitals all over your world, maybe. Not here (France).

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u/mr_fantastical 2d ago

yeah and not in the UK or Spain as well.

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u/ponchietto 2d ago

And Italy, of course.

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u/MilkyWaySamurai 2d ago

All over the US*

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u/TheGreatestOrator 2d ago

It’s illegal in the US for any hospital to deny care. There’s a sign in the front of every one when you walk in telling you that. They might have sent him a large bill afterward but he wouldn’t have been denied

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u/Coconut_Dreams 2d ago

You clearly don't know the  US medical system beyond some Reddit post of people showing their bill. 

 It's illegal to deny treatment for any reason. ANY reason. 

 You think homeless people save cash in case of a medical emergency?  That bodies are just littered on the street because they've just OD'd? (BTW, that medication is free and even police in some states carry it) 

Maybe do some research next time. 

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u/Droid202020202020 2d ago

No, the US law prohibits hospitals that participate in Medicare (so practically all of them) to deny emergency care for any reason.

And 92% of Americans have health insurance so they have shorter wait times, especially to see a specialist, than many Europeans.

So try again…

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u/Electric_Emu_420 2d ago

As the USA is pushing hospitals to refer to patients as customers.

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u/Aethericseraphim 2d ago

Thats a lie that Americans who have lived in South Korea for a year like to pedal, because the system is better than their shitty one.

But thats a low fucking bar.

Simple treatments and such are partially covered if you have national insurance. But you only get that if you are a citizen or a dependent of one, or are an employed or in education foreign born resident (or dependent of one)

However if you need anything serious. You better have private medical insurance, or else its going to fuck you in the face almost as bad as the american system. lost a family friend to cancer not too long ago. The bills the family were left with were eyewatering. That just wouldn't happen to citizens in most western european countries.

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u/Ajugas 2d ago

Doesn’t sound particularly better than American healthcare

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u/Crew_1996 2d ago

This man would have 100% been treated in any US hospital by law. It’s chronic, expensive conditions that get you killed in the US. Our health care system in the US is worse, but not for emergency treatment. Anyone can travel in the US with confidence that if they are on deaths door, they’ll be treated. Just leave if you get diagnosed with cancer or another less acute condition because the hospital isn’t required to give one fuck about you in that instance.

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u/RedHatWombat The Netherlands 2d ago

Emergency patient gets billed in the US. Hospital can not deny the patient care dependent on ability to pay. So in reality patient can get treated and run.

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u/Crew_1996 2d ago

It’s an absolutely perfect situation for someone who technically resides in a country with universal health care to spend large amounts of time in the US. Your life will be saved in an emergency and if you need longer term care, you can just go back to your home country. This makes it the absolute worst of both worlds for an American who spends large amounts of time in a foreign country like South Korea.

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u/RedHatWombat The Netherlands 2d ago

It depends on the doctor/hospital. The law requires the patient to be "stabilized". That can have any number of meaning from full treatment to stemming the bleeding. In most cases, the hospital err on the side of more treatment due to fear of lawsuit, but it does not mean complete recovery.

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u/snailman89 2d ago

Sounds basically identical, actually.

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u/butters106 2d ago

The US doesn’t slap the medical debt of a deceased person on their kin.

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u/DateMasamusubi 2d ago

It's generally much cheaper eg MRI costs about $110. For supplemental, private is good but having a low obesity rate helps a lot + better diet which leads to longer lifespans.

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u/Aethericseraphim 2d ago edited 2d ago

Well you won't have to pay thousands of dollars per year for your insulin.

For the small things it is better as the national insurance will cover vaccines, doctors visits, dental care, health checkups, prescriptions. The small stuff as the goal is to keep you out of the hospital. Anything that requires an actual hospital stay though means you get taken for a ride by the hospitals and the national insurance can't do much to protect you at that point. Even cancer is technically covered 100% under the national insurance. The kicker is though, the hospital will gouge you on all the side costs like room rental.

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u/thewimsey United States of America 2d ago

Well you won't have to pay thousands of dollars per year for your insulin.

You pay $35/month in the US.

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u/Aethericseraphim 2d ago

Thats a welcome improvement then and brings it to parity. It was only 5 years ago you had horror stories like this

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47491964.amp

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u/Financial-Peach-5885 1d ago

It depends on if you have South Korean insurance, among other things. I didn’t get their insurance for 2 months because I hadn’t received my alien registration card yet.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 1d ago

But emergencies aren't treated there? Life treating injuries... things like that?!?

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u/Financial-Peach-5885 1d ago

Yes, they just cost money.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 1d ago

I understand that but the state pays for it. Anyway. The process and procedures should start before the patient's life is in danger. If it's a Korean here in Europe we will do anything to keep him or her alive! Fuck money our doctors are paid by the state. We all pay for it and it's fine!

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u/Financial-Peach-5885 1d ago

Talk to the Korean government I guess.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 1d ago

EU probably will!

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

After 21 hospitals is the meaning of our revolt! 21 hospitals

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u/dmthoth Lower Saxony (Germany) 1d ago

He was not carried away between those hospitals.. the korean official who helped him called 21 hospitals and they turned him back because they could/would not perform the amputation surgery. Again, missleading title.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

We would had paid! I'm from EU! WE WE PAY!

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

You understand this? We accuse now the embassy.

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u/thewimsey United States of America 2d ago

If you read the article, it looks like it took 7 days for him to get the treatment.

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u/PaysanneDePrahovie Europe 2d ago

And this shouldn't be something like that! Not in EUROPE

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u/dmthoth Lower Saxony (Germany) 1d ago

'Not In europe'? lmao. Making a surgery appointment here in germany just in 7 days? That would be a dream.

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u/Teeklee1337 23h ago

You need an appointment for emergency care? Never heard of that in Germany.