A post from Åsa on Sweden' social security system, written on March 24, 2004.


I will give some background info on how it works in Sweden with our very good social security system.. which of course is one of the reasons we have one of the overall highest taxes in the world..although I personally only pay 32% in income tax. There are other taxes, like tax on gas, food, cigarettes and alcohol and an annual tax fee, which is not much, to own a car (this is to uphold the good roads in our country, where we do not have ONE road or highway that has a toll system).

In Sweden all hearing aids, services, audiograms, audiologists comes with a very low fee.. never higher, in my state anyway, than 5 dollars per appointment and about 110 dollars at the present for any kind of hearing aid.. these hearing aids are personally fitted and included digitally ones. We get a free TTY for ourself and our next of kin. If we want a laptop with a TTY program we can get that too.. and that is what I got.. a TTY for my parents and a IBM laptop back in 1997.

If a person has a hearingloss at 70dB and over, they can apply and has the right to get 1100 Swedish crowns tax-free each month.. that is about 82-83 tax free dollars a month.. for batteries, use of a computer, papers for printers, and other stuff that our social insurance regards as extra costs for those with any kind of disabilty that gives them more costs of living than people without a disability. If you have several disibilites this amount can be twice as much depending on your extra costs for the disability.. like diapers for those who have a problem with going to the bathroom, special other needs etc..

If a person is on partial or full time early retirement or on disability for their handicap they will, regardless of age get a discount on all trains, flights and other means of communications.. except taxis.. do you however need to use a taxi, a wheel chair bound person for example, that is or not is on disability but work fulltime, you can still apply for that and if the need is there you get a special card that gives you the right to use a taxi without having to pay more than 2 dollars one way.. regardless how long you travel.. within our county and how you travel. If we have this permit from our local county we also get a special discount on flights anywhere in Sweden and a taxi service from your front door to the airport, they take you with your wheelchair etc.. directly from the check in disk to the plane and you get help with whatever luggage you have.

I have done this since I was wheel chair bound for almost a year and travelled to Amsterdam a few years ago to meet other SWCers.. for a Eurocon meeting. Worked perfectly.. excellent service.. and the last time I flew which was only a couple of weeks ago.. I told the man at the information center that I had to sit up front to lipread the flightattendant for the safety precautions and that I had a severe hearingloss.. they helped me through the entire airport and made sure I did not miss my flight because I could not hear the speakers.. etc etc..

All senior citizens over 65 get discounts on buses, trains, airplanes etc., etc.. Students too..but you do have to show that you are indeed a student and indeed over 65.. and this is for ALL, regardless if you are with or without a disability.

Sweden does have laws against discrimination, but the main thing is that our social security system is so good. Your ADA law is better in many ways since you can sue and get compensation.. we can also appeal or sue for discrimination but our laws on how much you will get in monetary compensation is totally different than what you can get in the US.

We also are working very hard to become a totally acessable country where as much as humanly possible is done for various handicaps in hospitals, hotels, airports, official buildings etc.. now each county in the whole country have to have a plan for how and when they are going to make the whole county, especially official buildings like court houses, public telephones etc..acessible to all. We do have phones all over town that have a t-coil in them and you can adjust the volume.. they are also big enough to let someone in a wheelchair get in that phone booth. All cinemas have t-coils in my town. It is one of our biggest priorities right now to take care and make sure that the needs of those with any kind of handicap/disability or sickness etc.. can get the same service and acsess to public places, we have special parking places for disabled, like you have, the county can not build a road or a pavement that is not acessible for those in a wheel chair.. all apartments are equipped with whatever you need depending on what you need to reduce you handicap/disability to the minimum.

The charges for these services are very low indeed and I have never paid a dime for my flashligh lights I use for the doorbell or the t-coil thing for the TV etc I got when I still had a hearing aid.

Personally, I do not have a problem with being called handicapped or having a disability.. because I DO have one.. my reasoning for this is that since I do NOT have normal hearing I do have a disability / handicap and I am not ashamed of telling people of this or telling others what I need in that department.

It is imperative, I beleive, that if we do not ask for special services according to our individual needs, and accept being treated badly by those in buses or trains etc.. we will NEVER get anywhere to make the public aware of our needs, hearingloss is a handicap/disability that is a "hidden one" most of the time.. therefore I never ever hid my hearing aids, or my CI.. I put up my long hair, often .. and that reveals my CI microphone.. I show people at times what it is and I have never been treated badly.. when I was totally deaf I asked the conductor of the train to wake me up by opening the door to my sleeping compartment at a certain time. and to make sure I indeed woke up, that worked every time I have travelled that way.

I do think that we need to be open, unashamed for our needs.. they are there.. they have to be known to other people.. and how can they know what we need if we do not educate society and other people??

I do belive that if the whole of Europe, the European Union and other countries like Norway that are not a part of EU, can have almost the same social security system, overall, and sometimes better, like in Germany, free health services, etc etc.. then the US can too. Another thing is medication.. we have a discount for that too.. and most medication except Viagra, are subsidised by the government and then you never have to pay more than around 90 dollars at the present exchange rate between our currency and the dollar.. after you reach that mark.. you get almost ALL medication, except things like diet pills and Viagra etc.. for free from the first perscription was made out and paid for until you hit that highest cost.. after that it is free up to the date you got your first prescription paid for. This means that those with high cost for medication fast get up to the highest amount and then get the rest of the year.. in many cases 10 months, of free medication. Anti-depressants are not cheap.. and since I am on them.. I know that I am soon to get that free card.. in addition to that the cost of the medication goes down every time you go to the pharmacy and pay for medication.. right now I pay only 25% of the already subsidised medication and I will soon reach the highest limit and probably that will be next month and then I don't have to pay a dime for the prescription of medication I need until next february.

Health care is totally free when you have paid 53 dollars per 12 months (se the above system for medication).. then you get to visit the ER, the doctor, any clinic, etc.. for free from the first day you pay the only fees we have for health care..wich is a fee of 15 dollars to see a specialist.. to see a nurse to take a blood test costs half that amount.. we do not have to insure ourself in any way or form.. this is ALL paid for by our taxes and includes everyone, regardless of income that has the right to live in this country.

ALL health care for children, plus dental care is TOTALLY without any kind of charge up until they are 19 years old.. meaning out of high school.

I am on sick leave and have been for 7 years due to my deafness, broken hip with one year in a wheel chair and a serious staph infection and 6 surgeries including a total new hip ..and another big surgery last summer.. with complications. I am not on Disability.. but on sick leave wich is a right for those that have worked in Sweden for 12 months and you get 78% at present, up to a limit that is rather high, of your salary that you had when you got on sick leave.. then this amount will be raised according to the general deals that the unions makes with the employers every year. Currently I am getting 78% of a salary that is the general salary in my occuption, not counting experience and personal salary that you can negotiate with your boss..this means that my benefits have become higher each higher each year although I do not work.. but I do have to have a paper from the union giving the percentage of the general deal with the union I belong to. Of course I have still lost a bundle of money.. I would have had a much higher income, and a personally set income if I had been able to work.

Currently I get around 825 dollars a month after tax, plus the 83 dollars, plus our special child support each family gets for each child (since to few children are borne in Sweden, and since we have Social democratic leadership that wants to reduce the gap between different classes in society) that child support is also for all, regardless of income, cause the paperwork would cost more than the system of giving it to all..that is 72 dollars.. so I get 980 dollars a month after tax plus the above benefits.

If I would go on Disability, I would get money from my work insurance, since I got on sick leave before my employment were terminated, wich is obligatory for all employers in Sweden and they pay for it..plus a lower income than what I have now from our social security system.. but all in all it would not be more than maybe 50 dollars less than what I have now.. and all these benefits are included in our national plan for retirement so some of my taxes goes into that and I will get a fairly good retirement also.. even if I am not working. This is not counting that if I was on disability I would recive discount on all travels etc..

Smiles

Åsa Sweden

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