Our public healthcare system is one of the main things we Spaniards can be proud of. As soon as you get a job (if this enters your plans…), you'll be almost fully covered with minimum payments deducted from your payroll and proportional to your income. It works wonderfully, although Trump-like trumpeteers around here would like to destroy it. The same can be said for our public education system, which goes from 3 years old to the master's degree, with minimal tuition and universities in the world's top ranks. I call all the attempts to destroy public services the “let the ugly people die” policy.
I agree, Spain’s public healthcare system is miraculous and there’s no sane reason to get rid of it. One of the many reasons we left America is because there’s next to no social safety net. Even from a reductive perspective, clearly economic productivity does not increase with sickness and ill health. I’m reminded of the paradox of tolerance when I’m supposed to entertain political ideologies predicated on making others suffer.
And regarding the mechanics of coverage: I’m glad you brought this up, Juan. For people like my wife and me — who will work in Spain — we intend to switch to the public healthcare system. Specifically in our case, we’re planning to start a business, a topic riddled with complexities deserving of at least one future blog post… eventually.
Nonetheless, for any prospective emigrants reading, we’ll be paying into seguridad social (social security), which is much more expansive than American social security. That’s because it includes pensions for retirement (transferable among EU member states), disability benefits, unemployment insurance (there’s a special type for autónomos — self-employed people), parental leave, family allowances, etc. These are enshrined in the Spanish constitution, by the way… yet again another post for another time.
(I’ve also considered doing a video reading of the constitution, just for fun.)
And none of what you’re saying about the education system surprises me. This is a country that has valued its people. I can see it in their confidence — they have self-worth. This is achievable when people are educated and healthy.
Our public healthcare system is one of the main things we Spaniards can be proud of. As soon as you get a job (if this enters your plans…), you'll be almost fully covered with minimum payments deducted from your payroll and proportional to your income. It works wonderfully, although Trump-like trumpeteers around here would like to destroy it. The same can be said for our public education system, which goes from 3 years old to the master's degree, with minimal tuition and universities in the world's top ranks. I call all the attempts to destroy public services the “let the ugly people die” policy.
I agree, Spain’s public healthcare system is miraculous and there’s no sane reason to get rid of it. One of the many reasons we left America is because there’s next to no social safety net. Even from a reductive perspective, clearly economic productivity does not increase with sickness and ill health. I’m reminded of the paradox of tolerance when I’m supposed to entertain political ideologies predicated on making others suffer.
And regarding the mechanics of coverage: I’m glad you brought this up, Juan. For people like my wife and me — who will work in Spain — we intend to switch to the public healthcare system. Specifically in our case, we’re planning to start a business, a topic riddled with complexities deserving of at least one future blog post… eventually.
Nonetheless, for any prospective emigrants reading, we’ll be paying into seguridad social (social security), which is much more expansive than American social security. That’s because it includes pensions for retirement (transferable among EU member states), disability benefits, unemployment insurance (there’s a special type for autónomos — self-employed people), parental leave, family allowances, etc. These are enshrined in the Spanish constitution, by the way… yet again another post for another time.
(I’ve also considered doing a video reading of the constitution, just for fun.)
And none of what you’re saying about the education system surprises me. This is a country that has valued its people. I can see it in their confidence — they have self-worth. This is achievable when people are educated and healthy.