European Health Care

In Europe, you can tap into free, world-class health care, with award-winning facilities and English-speaking doctors… at a fraction of the cost of care in the United States.

When it comes to moving to Europe, one of the biggest advantages is that you’re moving to the continent with the world’s best health care. The five countries with the best health care systems in the world are all in Europe. Out of the top 25 countries for medical care, only four aren’t European. In fact, the superb care has been cited by many an expat as the reason they chose Europe over any other continent.

Plus, become resident and pay into the system in a European country, and the health care is free—no kidding.

Even if you’re living in Europe part time as a tourist or temporary resident and not covered by the system, your access to the fantastic care is unlimited.

And paying out of pocket for care as a non-permanent resident can be unbelievably affordable, too. Our daughter moved to Paris in 2018, and a big vote in favor of France came with the affordable and excellent health care (ranked the best in the world) she’d receive as she started a family.

Not yet in the French social system, she ended up paying for all her pregnancy and labor costs out of pocket, which came to less than 6,000 euros in total. Her hospital stay for the delivery was four days long (the minimum length of time any country in Europe will keep a new mother and baby) and came to about 4,000 euros, all in, from one of the oldest and best-known maternity wards in Paris. Her international insurance plan paid her back in full for these costs.

When she looked up the average medical costs associated with having a baby in the United States, it looked as though you can’t have a baby for much less than US$10,000, assuming no complications, but costs can quickly escalate to US$30,000. After insurance, the average American mother pays about US$5,000 for delivery alone no matter what. That includes just one night in the hospital after labor, the average length of time a new mother and baby are kept in the States.

A typical doctor’s visit in Europe costs 60 euros or less; specialists might cost more… but they might not. A clinic visit will set you back just 25 euros in general. The cost of prescription medicine is far lower than in the States, and the social system covers all medication costs.

Suffice it to say that health care in Europe is affordable even in the worst of cases—i.e. being uninsured and not in the social system.

The standard of care is a world away from what it is in the United States, too. Most doctors here still offer house calls, and these are the norm in some cases—for post-natal care, for example; in fact, every mother in France is entitled to at least one bedside visit from a midwife and/or lactation consultant in the weeks after birth. A doctor’s visit typically lasts at least 30 minutes, with plenty of time to chat and ask questions. There’s no sense of being just another number rushed through an office.

The public and private systems are marginally different in treatment and patient care, in our experience. In fact, many doctors working in the public sphere do so voluntarily, running their own private practice or with an office in a private hospital, as well. Care given from the public sector will all be covered by the country’s social security net, and private doctors have the right to charge more (and those charges may not be reimbursable).

The only real variable are the wait times in the public system. If you opt to go public and you need treatment beyond a checkup, you’re likely to be put on a waiting list.

Depending on the specialty and the place you’re moving to, it can take a ridiculously long time to get basic care in the public system—but this is not universally true. For example, in the South of France, there’s a dearth of optometrists in the public system, and the few that there are aren’t enough to adequately treat all those who need eye correction in the region. It can take months just to get an eye exam or a new pair of glasses unless you bypass the public system (or have a doctor friend who can nudge you to the top of the list). This is just an example, but it might be true of any specialty in any region of any country… you won’t know until you get there and need treatment. It’s situations like this when it’s nice to have the backup of your own insurance in addition to being in the social system.

Alternative health care is given more credence here, too. You’re just as likely to be referred to osteopaths, chiropractors, and acupuncturists to resolve your issue as you would be to fancy specialists who charge an arm and a leg to treat your arm and your leg. We’ve had wonderful experiences with our chiropractor in Paris, who’s hands down the best we’ve seen anywhere in the world.