<P> According to several sources from the past decade, waiting times in Germany remain low for appointments and surgery, although a minority of elective surgery patients face longer waits . In 1992, a study by Fleming et al. (cited in Siciliani & Hurst, 2003, p. 8), 19.4% of German respondents said they'd waited more than 12 weeks for their surgery . </P> <P> In the Commonwealth Fund 2010 Health Policy Survey in 11 Countries, Germany reported some of the lowest waiting times . Germans had the highest percentage of patients reporting their last specialist appointment took less than 4 weeks (83%, v. 80% for the U.S.), and the second - lowest reporting it took 2 months or more (7%, vs. 5% for Switzerland and 9% for the U.S.). 70% of Germans reported that they waited less than 1 month for elective surgery, the highest percentage, and the lowest percentage (0%) reporting it took 4 months or more (The Commonwealth Fund, 2010, pp. 19--20). </P> <P> Both Social Health Insurance (SHI) and privately insured patient experienced low waits, but privately insured patients' waits were even lower . According to the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV), the body representing contract physicians and contract psychotherapists at federal level, 56% of Social Health Insurance patients waited 1 week or less, while only 13% waited longer than 3 weeks for a doctor's appointment . 67% of privately insured patients waited 1 week or less, while 7% waited longer than 3 weeks (Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung, 2016). </P> <P> In a 2009 study to measure waiting time differences between SHI and private insurance, interviewers posed as patients and requested appointments . They told hospitals they could not get a normal referral, which is generally required from an outpatient doctor . Care requested was not immediately urgent, but was care urgent enough to get treated in a couple of weeks . (This may limit generalization to other waits). Mean waiting time was 8.9667 days . Those posing as SHI patients waited longer at some but not all hospitals, and longer on average . Not all hospitals asked their insurance status . However, among those that did, mean waits for SHI patients was 10.5533 days, while privately insured patients' mean waiting time was 8.9667 days . Hospitals asking insurance type had a longer overall mean wait than those not asking for it (Kuchinke, Sauerland & Wübker, 2009). </P>

Average amount each family pays for healthcare in germany