Culture: la salud
In this section, you will learn about health systems around the world. Each Spanish-speaking country has a different way of dealing with insurance and the healthcare system. In Spain, for example, everyone that has a job or is under the age of eighteen has public health care. If you need to go to a doctor, unless it is an emergency, you will wait a longer for an appointment or procedure, but it is all covered and there are very little to no out of pocket expenses. As a citizen, you are able to also get private insurance to make sure that everything is covered more quickly. This means, that you pay into social security insurance, plus your private insurance. Each private insurance has it’s own hospitals that will only take certain private insurances. With private insurance you also have little to no out of pocket expenses. Another fact about Spanish health care is that pharmacies are separate from stores and that they are identified by a green cross. You cannot buy any medications, even over the counter ones in a store—all is done in a pharmacy.
Vaya Semanita Doctor Marido Mujer
The video below is just a small parody of a married couple going to the doctor.
Click the Play icon to begin.
DISCUSIÓN
Research how the medical system works in a Spanish speaking country. Using the following questions, compare it to the health care system in your own country:
- what country are you researching?
- Do you need insurance?
- Do they have public clinics or hospitals?
- Where do they get medications? Pharmacies?
Licensing and Attribution:
Cultura content on this page was remixed from Español por el mundo by Gemma Morawski and Ani Alcocer, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
