Germany didn't copy the US - they just happen to share similar roots.
replyBoth historically had private hospital systems, and just so happen to implement pension/employer-based insurance programs very early on. German's just evolved in one direction and the US evolved in the other.
We copied the DRG reimbursement System from the US.
replyAnd no, we didn't had a historically significant share of private hospital systems, those came with the introduction of the DRG System, which forced many city/church owned hospitals into privatisation.
Before that, they had a "Fixed Price per Night" System, which also was a bit stupid, before that they got reimbursed their cost.
Actually Germany is a lot better value for money than the US. The cost (either absolute or as a percentage of GDP) is similar to the UK or France, and from what I have been told by people who have lived in both countries, the German system is better than the British.
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