A short webinar introducing the German health system and offering tips for strengthening your application was held on July 16. We strongly encourage you to watch the recording if you did not attend.
Americans historically have shown little interest in learning from health systems in other countries, but skyrocketing costs in the U.S. are putting medical care out of reach for millions of middle-class patients. This has stoked growing unhappiness about the American health care system. And it offers a new opportunity to educate Americans about how other wealthy nations organize their health systems and make care more widely available at more affordable costs. Few countries offer better lessons than Germany.
To improve understanding of the German system, the Association of Health Care Journalists is launching the German Health Care Study Group, a weeklong in-person program for U.S.-based reporters to travel to Germany, meet with health care leaders and visit experts in Berlin to inform reporting projects for U.S.-based outlets.
Germany in important ways represents an ideal model for an American audience. Unlike the U.K. or Canada, Germany has a largely non-governmental system that is more recognizable to U.S. patients. Physicians and hospitals are largely private. Most Germans get insurance from non-government health plans. Workers contribute to the cost of insurance, as they do in the U.S.
The German system is not without challenges. But the system generally delivers high-quality care. Importantly, it also protects patients’ financial security by limiting what patients pay when they go to the doctor or hospital. This is a major difference from the U.S., where patients routinely get bills for thousands of dollars, even if they have health insurance. Special thanks to The Commonwealth Fund for supporting this program.
Program details
