In the United States, the idea of single payer health care has become a hot topic of discussion. Those on the right flat out reject it, and many on the left believe it must be implemented immediately. A middle ground argument is that we need to phase out the current system while slowly phasing in single payer. This middle argument takes into account how the initial cost would be a huge spike in US spending (at first) and would also render a large part of the US economy, the health care industry, partially obsolete, eliminating thousands of jobs immediately and potentially thousands more in years following.
So my question is: for countries such as the UK with established single payer systems, how long did the implementation of care take to become a truly single payer health care system take? I imagine it wasn't an immediate "this is how much we are spending and you are guaranteed all of this and you will all be taxed this much", but I could just be ignorant.
Thanks for any info anyone can give me!
Germany:
The fist health care system where in Prussia, 17.01.1845.
Your communal employer could force you to be in it. It was not for Company workers.
There where mostly local health insurance founds, some from a city, some from just one company (like Thyssen) or your confraternity (engineer). Some of them are still around today, like Barmer, a city insurance.
1876, Prussia got a "Hilfskassenwesen", a regulation of the health insurance Fonds.
From the 29 April 1869, there was also a general health care system in Bavaria.
On the 15 June 1883, Otto von Bismark, proclaimed for all of Germany the " Gesetz betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter " Law for health insurance for the Workers. He did this to got more left wing votes, he was a conservative.
The law from Bismark, was for worker, with a maximum income of 2000 Mark per month.
This was for miners, steelworkers, boatman's on inland waters, Railroad workers and other similar trades. This where around 10% of the population of Germany. The worker pays 2/3 and the employer pays 1/3.
1911 the law was extended to all kind of employees.
Austria introduced its laws on it on the 30 March 1888 and Hungary on the 9 April 1891.
The insurance payed for your doctor visits, you meds, up to 15 weeks sick day (50%), aids, death grand and support for 4 weeks after a women got a child.
It took Germany 66 years to make a general health care system for everyone. Germany later did 4 regulation after 1945, but there universal health care wasn't changed since 1911.
Today in Germany are 88% of all people in the public health care system, the rest are privat or getting aid some form of special aid (Bundeswehr / Army).
There are even benefit society's like the DeBeKa or DEVK, who are no profit.
DeBeKa is the biggest privat insurance in Europe, and was meant to be the one for the German civil servant's (Beamte). Beamte are paying 50% insurance, the other 50% pays Germany, called Beihilfe.
Today there are 103 different public health insurance, with an income of 116.226 Mio €(Dec.2020). Here a link in German to the statistic form Jan.2021.
You can choose in Germany to wich insurance company you want to go, there is not one insurance. Every public insurance got its own profile, and you can chose between them.