On the basis of a survey, it was found that only Cuba has truly free health care for all, i.e., patients do not have to pay anything to see a doctor.
The countries that are usually mentioned as having free medical care, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, South Africa, etc., do provide basic free treatment for all their citizens without the need to pay health insurance premiums, but in reality, they still need to pay a certain amount of money, such as medication and registration fees, when they see a doctor.
According to the 2010 China Health Statistics Yearbook, of the 193 countries in the world that spend money on health costs, there is not a single one that spends zero on personal health care, which means there is not a single country in which an individual pays nothing to see a doctor.
Countries where people usually think of free medical care, such as the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and India, had personal health expenditures as a percentage of total health costs of 18.3 percent, 18.7 percent, 54.5 percent, and 73.8 percent, respectively, in 2007. China's personal share was 60 percent in 2001 and dropped to 35.5 percent in 2011.
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In fact, there are not many countries in the world where free medical care is currently practiced. Among the developed countries, the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Canada all have free healthcare for all.
In Russia, both nationals and foreigners can enjoy free medical care. Among other developing countries, India, Cuba, Brazil and Chile also have free healthcare for all. There are also African countries that claim free healthcare, but due to economic underdevelopment, it is only on paper.
As a welfare system, free health care can reduce the heavy burden of health care on the public, especially the disadvantaged, but on the other hand, the "free lunch" is not always delicious, and in some countries, free health care has brought about a decline in the quality of service, inefficiency, and outdated medical equipment and other problems. But perhaps that's the price you have to pay for free.
Reference: People's Daily Online - A look at free health care around the world: Is it fair?
People's Daily Online - Which countries provide free health care Reporters investigated the global health care system in more than 70 countries