Talk:Healthcare in Sweden

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 19 January 2021 and 21 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Aschmi31.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:12, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JoshuaOmari7.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:11, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Removal
I reinserted a removed sourced statement. Please don't remove relevant information without discussing it. Nsaa (talk) 17:19, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Suggestions for Revisions
It's a big overreach to say that whenever healthcare systems are ranked Sweden is near the top and only provide one link to an article that isn't really about ranking Health Care systems.

If more footnotes can not be provided I suggest this line be deleted.

It reads like someone has a point to make an is using the article to do so, rather than producing a good article. The articles on Health Care in Switzerland, Japan and Austrailia might be good templates. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.191.160 (talk) 22:13, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
 * It surely was the case - 40-50 years ago - but it's not the case any longer. True. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brett Alexander Hunter (talk • contribs)

On what sources is the assertion that "Sweden’s entire population has equal access to health care services" based? In fact, Socialstyrelsen's most recent Folkhälsorapport (Public Health Report) from 2009 shows that there are marked differences in access to health care among Swedish residents both socio-economically and geographically. And that's not even considering the not insignificant number of undocumented immigrants who are also part of Sweden's population but don't necessarily have access to it's subsidized healthcae system.

If this statement can not be backed up with reliable sources, I suggest that it is removed and the introductory paragraph be rewritten. qiaozhehui (talk) 21:20, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Reference (8) "Outcomes in EHCI 2015" no longer works, PDF no longer exists or is at another location on the website. The wait times paragraph now has no reference, suggest someone mark that as unsupported or find a new reference. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:281:C000:AA41:99B8:5BA9:DC04:E031 (talk) 12:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

Waiting Times
There are unsupported statements about waiting times in the current page. This source seems to suggest that waiting times in Sweden are significantly worse than claimed in the current page. I'm not well versed on how edits and discussions work in Wikipedia, so I apologize if I'm not following the usual format.

Chunks of this article seem to come from the Swedish government's own site http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Quick-facts/Facts/Swedish-health-care/ - perhaps an attribution is an order (unless I missed it)? (the copyright statement says 'the text may be reproduced, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast in any media for non-commercial use with reference to www.sweden.se') --Spartakan (talk) 17:24, 15 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The goal of the Swedish government is to provide equal access to all its residents based on need or severity of medical condition. This is idealistic, in reality there are long waiting lists that act as bottlenecks and constrain access to care when in need. There are reports to prove this fact. The statement in the introduction seems like an assertion. It has to be changed to indicate that equal access is something that the government aims for.


 * There should also be a section on problems or issues in the health care system. Cinnamonessence (talk) 00:32, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

History paragraph
Could someone with the appropriate knowledge please write a "history" paragraph detailing how the Swedish healthcare system evolved over the years and what changes were made in it? I assume that after 5 years of neoliberal government there must have been some privatization/liberalization going on, but the article does not mention any of it. And if the new government did NOT push those kind of reforms, I think that deserves explicit mentioning as well, because it would be against the trend set in other European countries. - TaalVerbeteraar (talk) 10:28, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Who is entitled to benefit from the healthcare system?
The article says (emphasis mine)

So, to pay for doctor fees and prescribed medicines you never have to pay more than 800 plus 1800 SEK (360 USD) per year. However, this only applies to swedish citizens that register for the scheme before paying any fees.

My understanding is that this is an overly restrictive assessment of who can benefit from the Swedish healthcare system. I believe it is anyone legally resident, ie EEA citizens working, people with work visas, refugees etc.

I'd assume under EEA free movement laws that it'd also apply to EEA students. Non-EEA students - I don't know?

Can anyone confirm or otherwise all of the above? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.237.142.7 (talk) 12:46, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

- Yes, I'm an Irish citizen employed and living in Sweden and I fall under the same system of healthcare benefits as the native Swedes do. I will remove that sentence as it's obviously not true. 130.235.100.183 (talk) 10:15, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

"Sweden’s entire population has equal access to health care services"
I am very unsure about this statement - and definitely think it should be sourced/referenced if it stays in the article. I don't think it is correct, although I am basing my conclusion purely on my own experience as a regional public health reader in souther sweden.


 * I agree. It's not "equal". It is only equal within one landsting, but there are differences between landsting, and then there is also private health care, which is expensive. I removed it. --OpenFuture (talk) 09:28, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

A lot
A lot of Swedes want dental care to be fully included in the general health care system, and a growing group of politicians support that.

Can we get a better phrase here? And a source? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.46.224.21 (talk) 21:14, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Not a rarity
The beginning of this piece states:


 * Private healthcare is a rarity in Sweden

Yet further down can be found:


 * Private companies in 2015 provide about 20% of public hospital care and about 30% of public primary care

Obviously not both can be correct.

At 20-30%, private care is no longer a rarity. Unfortunately.

Suggest immediate remedy forthwith. Cheers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brett Alexander Hunter (talk • contribs)

Criticisms - Sources do not actually support the sentences
Sentence under "Criticisms": "Swedish citizens of other ethnicities than Swedish, and citizens who are of a lower socio-economic class receive a significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population."

So the sources on this sentence should say either 1. Non ethnic Swedes get significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population. 2. Citizens who are of a lower socio-economic class receive a significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population.

First given source (https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2020/januari/svenskarna-lever-lange-men-halsan-ar-ojamlik-i-landet/) says three things that are somewhat related to this.

1. "Samtidigt kvarstår de socioekonomiska skillnaderna i hälsa" - "At the same time the socio-economic differences in health remain" (lower socio-economic citizens - yes. Significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population - no. Health and health care are two very different things)

2. "Många riskfaktorer är också vanligare bland låginkomsttagare och lågutbildade, vilket bidrar till socioekonomiska skillnader när det gäller hälsa och medellivslängd." - Many risk factors are also more common among those with lower wages and education, which contributes to socio-economic differences when it comes to health and life expectancy" (lower socio-economic citizens - yes. Significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population - no. Health and health care are still two very different things. This quote literally says that the reason for differences in health are risk factors and not health care. If anything this quote has given us contradicting information that what it has been used for.)

3. "Enligt rapportförfattarna bidrar decentraliseringen av det svenska hälso- och sjukvårdssystemet med 21 regioner till regionala skillnader både vad gäller vård och vårdresultat." - "According to the authors of the report the decentralisation of the Swedish healthcare system with its 21 regions have contributed to regional differences in healthcare and healthcare results." (Significantly lower quality of health care than the rest of the population - possibly, at least different levels. To say this source supports that it is significantly lower is just wrong. Are we finally getting close now then? No. No mention of non ethnic Swedes or of citizens of lower socio-economic class. Decentralisation leads to regional differences not socio-economical differences.)

I will remove this as a source for that sentence. Beepsnap (talk) 22:22, 18 November 2020 (UTC)