What Germany Gets Right About Healthcare

What I learned from managing a complex health condition in Germany and America

Photo from nnattalli on Shutterstock

Almost a year ago, I had the opportunity to get first-hand experience of the German healthcare system when my health took a nosedive.

Shortly after my arrival in Berlin, my energy levels tanked and my arthritis and Lyme disease symptoms suddenly returned, just as Germany was on the brink of a Winter energy crisis. Already stressed from managing housing and immigration, searching for a doctor in a new country felt like a nightmare.

Looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened. As I write this eight months after my first doctor’s appointment, my body feels better than it has in years — my arthritis symptoms are gone, my gut is healing, and I feel less stressed than I have in years.

Though I was lucky to find a talented doctor, I give a great deal of credit to the German healthcare system. After spending four years and thousands of dollars treating Lyme disease in America without success, I’ve been continually impressed by the German healthcare system and its approach to patient care and health.

Here are the most striking differences I observed inhow healthcare is handled in Germany versus America:

Search for Root Causes

One of the most profound differences between how German doctors assessed my health compared to American doctors is that German doctors were most interested in the state of my body while American doctors were focused on the pathogen.

My doctors in America tested me for Lyme disease and identified two further co-infections (babesia, bartonella) before starting treatment. In contrast, my German doctor conducted the most thorough set of diagnostic tests I’ve ever had:

• blood panel to assess my general health and a test for heavy metals

• A urine test for mold and fungal complications

• A stool sample to assess microbiome health and composition

• An interview regarding my mental health, stress levels, financial health, and even work and sense of purpose

By our follow-up visit, he gave me a much more nuanced diagnosis: Lyme disease complicated by a previously undetected systemic mold infection; a dozen food sensitivities; high levels of mercury, arsenic, and aluminum; and a latent EBV virus.

While my American doctors had focused on killing Lyme disease bacteria in my body, my German doctor prioritized removing toxins from my body and eliminating the mold infection in order to give my body the strength to heal itself. To use a gardening metaphor, my American doctors had all attempted to kill the weeds while German doctors were interested in studying changing the conditions of the soil.

Start Gentle

A few months ago, I came across an interesting article by Firoozeh Dumas titled “After Surgery…I wanted Vicodin, not Herbal Tea.” She writes about being told before her hysterectomy in Germany that she would not receive any painkillers after. In disbelief, she turns to her anesthesiologist, who tells her:

“We cannot eliminate it nor do we want to. The pain will guide you. You will know when to rest more; you will know when you are healing. If I give you Vicodin, you will no longer feel the pain, yes, but you will no longer know what your body is telling you. You might overexert yourself because you are no longer feeling the pain signals. All you need is rest.”

Her experience reflects something I’ve often found in German healthcare: gentle treatments and attention to the body are prioritized.

When developing a treatment plan with my German doctor and rheumatologist, both began with simple and inexpensive lifestyle recommendations before prescribing drugs or heavy pharmaceuticals. They gave me recommendations for an alkaline diet, foods to cleanse my gut (e.g. oats, which have a fiber that supports healthy gut bacteria), and natural substances such as bentonite clay to clear toxins from my GI tract.

Though my doctor prescribed Cholestyramine and Ursofalk for a period of time to treat my mold infection, he was adamant that it was important to start gentle and support my body as much as possible so it could heal. He preferred to slowly raise the dosage and observe how I reacted physically and emotionally to the detoxification process before making further changes.

While the gentle approach to treatment often takes more time — 6 months to clear my mold infection — I experienced no side effects and came out stronger than before I started.

Create Trust Through Transparency

One of the most wonderful parts of being a patient in the German healthcare system is that I always know exactly what my treatment will cost.

Though my public insurance covers visits with certain doctors, others only accept private clients and I’ve to pay out of pocket. On those visits, whenever I’ve asked what the price of the visit will be, I’m always given a clear answer beforehand. In one case, a nurse handed me a line item breakdown of the cost of an IV treatment, specifying the exact cost of every vitamin and mineral in the IV solution.

Then, she informed me that if I wanted to save money on the next IV treatment, I could eat an alkaline diet the day of the visit, which would remove the need for an alkalizing agent in the IV solution and save me 50 euros.

Throughout my time in Germany, I’ve never had a surprise bill, an unexpected cost, or been hounded by bill collectors.

Price transparency not only reduces the stress of medical care, but it’s given me a level of trust and collaboration with doctors that I rarely felt in America. Because my doctors have been honest and fair regarding prices, I trust them to be honest and fair generally and to have my best interests at heart.

Treat the Whole Person

What led to more health breakthroughs than anything else was my doctor’s holistic approach to treating physical and mental health. The most obvious example is the advice he gave me in healing my gut:

The protocol he laid out for gut healing included an alkaline diet tailored to my food sensitivities, a water fasting program to give my gut the opportunity to heal, and a program called Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS) to re-wire my stress response.

I was fascinated most of all by the DNRS program and how it would help me heal:

DNRS is a brain training program based on the premise that when someone has been under chronic stress — whether from pathogens, injuries, or emotional challenges — the limbic system can get dysregulated and stuck in a fight-or-flight state. The purpose of DNRS is to “re-train” the limbic system to break the stress loop by consciously choosing new ways to respond to stressful situations. Using the program over time not only creates a sense of relaxation and ease, but it lowers inflammation and can help accelerate healing.

Over the past few months, I combined changes in my diet with a regular DNRS practice. I not only felt improvements in my gut and joints but in my overall mindset — which accelerated healing and made it easier to sustain.

Looking back on it, addressing my mental and emotional health was a major missing link in my treatment — one that my American doctors largely ignored and my German doctors emphasized from the beginning.

Conclusion

One of the most surprising things I’ve learned after almost a year of living and receiving treatment in Germany is that it is the first time in my life I’ve truly received healthcare.

For 29 years, my healthcare in America only addressed disease. My doctors focused on identifying and killing pathogens in my body and masking symptoms of inflammation or pain. Few of them — apart from alternative practitioners — asked a single question about the state of my body, my mind, or my life.

In contrast, my doctors in Germany have been primarily focused on supporting my health: physical, emotional, mental, and even financial. Under their care, my body has not only healed but my stress response has shifted.

Thanks to them, I’m learning the profound difference between fighting disease and supporting health and wellness on a daily basis.