Spyke

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66 ways to fix Germany's costly health care system

Welcomed ideas:

  • A rise in taxes on spirits and tobacco.
  • A new tax on sugary drinks. Commission member Ferdinand Gerlach, director of the Institute for General Practice and a doctor himself, said experience in other countries had shown that when sugar taxes are introduced, manufacturers tend to reduce the sugar content of their products voluntarily.

Not sure:

  • A new measure requiring plannable operations — such as knee replacements — to only be carried out once the patient has received an independent second opinion from another doctor who has no economic stake in the decision. (Germany carries out more such operations than many other EU countries.)
  • The federal government, rather than health insurers, should pay for the health care of unemployment benefits recipients. (This alone would save insurers €12 billion a year, the commission said.)

Absolute fck you idea:

  • Patients pay more contributions for prescribed drugs. At the moment, health insurers pay for most prescription drugs.
  • Breadwinners' spouses with no children under 6 would no longer be insured automatically.

Here is another idea:

  • Reform company ownership structure so wealthiest people can not dodge taxes using trust or foundations owned company structures, as they currently do. (Foundation owned companies like Lidl, Aldi, Trumph, Bosch, etc pay 0 to less than 1% taxes on profits and they also pay zero inheritance taxes, meanwhile me and most probably you the reader if you are a German, pay 35% of our labour as taxes.)
europe

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French ship passes Strait of Hormuz in sign Iran may not view France as hostile

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It's not Iran that started this illegal war. It is Israel and US who attacked Iran. EU countries should have condemned the illegal attack on the first day instead of blaming Iran for defending itself when it targeted US bases in Gulf. By helping US, EU members are just dropping axe on their own feet, when the middle east becomes unstable refugees have very few options to escape.