Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 590 The Olympics Destined to Break Records
The successful rollout of universal health insurance is good news for Carlo, the Spanish government, and all Spaniards.

For clinic doctors, patients who prefer to tough it out when they are sick will also come to the clinic for treatment because they have medical insurance, which will give them extra income.

This is why the doctors at these clinics explain the government-promoted medical insurance policies to all patients in great detail.

Popular clinic doctors like Dr. Kingsley have even had to hire an additional staff member specifically to check if patients have insurance cards and to explain the government's health insurance policies to them.

All Spaniards who have benefited from universal healthcare are now filled with gratitude towards Carlo and the Spanish government. Those who initially doubted the validity of the universal healthcare policy are now forced to believe in its effectiveness after hearing increasing accounts of real-life experiences around them.

According to statistics from the Madrid and Barcelona municipalities, in February alone, the number of people seeking medical treatment through health insurance in Madrid and Barcelona reached 24,000 and 31,000 respectively.

This resulted in all insurance companies in Spain, large and small, operating at a loss in February. After all, each person only pays 0.1 pesetas in insurance premiums, but the medical expenses that insurance companies reimburse or advance for individuals are generally at least several pesetas, and in some cases as high as tens of pesetas. This requires the medical expenses paid by dozens or even hundreds of healthy people to afford.

In other words, among all insured individuals, the number of those requesting insurance reimbursement or advance payment should not exceed one percent; otherwise, the insurance company is likely to incur losses.

This is actually why most insurance companies in Spain are established by the government or the royal family, and very few private capital entities, large or small, establish insurance companies.

Without the option to refuse coverage without a valid reason, insurance companies incur far more expenses than one might imagine, making it difficult for most to make a profit.

To encourage the establishment of insurance companies by private capital, Carlo also requested that the Spanish government provide subsidies to private insurance companies as much as possible to ensure their survival in the wave of universal health insurance.

Of course, situations like those in February, where tens of thousands of people sought medical treatment through insurance, are ultimately still a minority.

After all, many people contracted their illnesses before they even started paying into their medical insurance schemes. To improve the credibility of insurance, insurance companies have been covering all these illnesses together, but they certainly won't do that anymore.

As the public gradually accepts the universal health insurance policy, in the future, insurance will only cover illnesses and disabilities suffered during the payment period, and will not cover illnesses suffered before the insurance payment period.

This can be seen as a benefit for those who try it out first. After all, as key pilot cities for the national policy, the citizens of Madrid and Barcelona have become, to some extent, guinea pigs for the promotion of the Spanish policy.

When universal healthcare is implemented nationwide in the future, residents of other cities will not enjoy the same benefits as residents of Madrid and Barcelona.

With the universal health insurance program confirmed to be on track, Carlo breathed a sigh of relief.

Frankly, enacting universal health insurance at this time was a risky move. If done well, all Spaniards could benefit from this policy, and Carlos, who pushed it forward, would undoubtedly be revered as a god.

Even Spaniards who benefit from this policy in the future will remember Carlo's contribution when their insurance pays out or reimburses medical expenses.

But all of this is predicated on the Spanish government being able to steadily advance the universal health insurance policy, rather than encountering any mistakes in its implementation.

If this practice of forcibly collecting health insurance fees angers the Spanish people, the resulting instability could very well plunge Spain into turmoil.

Fortunately, Carlo's public relations efforts over the years have not been in vain. Today, Carlo's reputation in Spain is unparalleled. Even if the public is somewhat dissatisfied with the government's practice of forcibly collecting medical insurance fees, they are not so quick to turn against the government.

The Spanish people today are willing to give the Spanish government time, and they are willing to give Carlos time.

Even if it is determined that such a health insurance policy is just a trick by the government and capitalists to exploit the people, the people are willing to believe that Carlo will eventually realize the truth and overturn such a false policy.

The universal health insurance policy is now real and effective, which is certainly the best news for Spaniards.

This means that the king they have always trusted has not deceived them, and that their future lives will indeed be greatly improved because of this universal health insurance policy.

Of course, while universal health insurance policies are real and effective, the coverage of insurance is always limited.

The annual insurance premium for each person is only 1.2 peseta, and the maximum medical expenses that can be reimbursed or advanced is only 240 peseta.

If calculated monthly, the insurance premium per person is only 0.1 peseta, and the reimbursement or advance payment for medical expenses is only 20 peseta. This means that such medical insurance can only provide coverage for minor illnesses at most.

It's impossible to expect a cheap health insurance policy to cover all the costs of all illnesses.

The Spanish public is well aware of this, and after experiencing firsthand the effectiveness of universal health insurance, some have even suggested that insurance companies introduce more tiers of health insurance, allowing those with more funds to purchase insurance with higher payouts.

The insurance company has discussed insurance policies with higher payouts. However, since Spain is still in the trial phase of universal health insurance, it's not appropriate to launch various types of health insurance all at once.

Only when the public has fully accepted the medical insurance system and everyone has purchased medical insurance will it be the right time to introduce more types of medical insurance.

After finishing his work on piloting universal health insurance in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​Carlo's attention returned to the Madrid Olympics, which will be held this summer.

Although the hottest news in Spain is undoubtedly the implementation of universal health insurance, the news has not attracted much attention from the European public because similar insurance policies are already familiar to other European countries.

On the contrary, the Madrid Olympics, which will begin in less than six months, has attracted the attention of many Europeans.

Many Europeans are still quite excited about the Olympics, which were postponed for a year. The joint media campaign by Spain and the International Olympic Committee has played a significant role in informing many Europeans about the story behind the forced postponement.

Besides the almost routine condemnation of Germany for starting the world war, Europeans were also curious about how many countries would participate in the Olympics hosted by Spain.

For Spain, there is already a great deal of good news for the Olympics so far: the number of countries that have pledged to participate in the Madrid Olympics has broken the record since the inception of the Olympic Games.

Of course, a significant part of the reason is that Europe was divided into many new countries after the World War.

A close look at today's world map reveals that after the end of World War II, Europe gained several new countries and regions, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, and the Free City of Danzig, bringing the total number of countries and regions in Europe to a new high.

Most of these newly established countries joined the League of Nations, which led to the League's increasing authority and made it a world-renowned international organization, attracting many countries in Europe and around the world to join.

With the help of these countries, by March 1917, more than 30 countries and regions had pledged to participate in the Madrid Olympics, and it was estimated that more than 3200 athletes would arrive in Madrid before the start of the Games to participate in this once-every-four-years sporting event.

Of course, most of the athletes from these countries do not arrive in Madrid just before the start of the Olympics, but come to Spain several months in advance to undergo a period of intense and tedious training.

The reason for arriving in Spain so early is partly to familiarize themselves with the venue in advance, so as to avoid making mistakes due to unfamiliarity during the match.

On the other hand, arriving in Spain earlier was also to familiarize myself with the various details of the Olympics. The Olympics today are different from those of later generations; the rules of competition differ from one Olympics to another.

After all, including the Madrid Olympics, the Olympic Games have only been held six times. Among them, only the 1896 Athens Olympics, the 1908 London Olympics, and the 1912 Stockholm Olympics truly attracted attention in Europe and even the world.

Based on the number of countries that have pledged to participate in the Spanish Olympics, the 1916 Madrid Olympics has the potential to become the fourth Olympic Games to attract attention in Europe and even the world. It may even break many records since the inception of the Olympic Games. Major Spanish newspapers and media outlets have been eagerly awaiting this moment and have even started writing reports on related news in advance.

Beginning in March 1917, numerous sports delegations from various countries chose to travel to Spain. The Spanish sports authorities provided them with adequate accommodation and training facilities to ensure that the athletes' physical condition did not suffer during this period.

Starting in April, the Spanish government contacted countries that had pledged to participate in the Madrid Olympics, asking if these countries needed Spain to send cruise ships to transport their athletes.

For most countries, accepting Spanish funding is still undesirable. After all, even if most countries' finances are in dire straits, they shouldn't be unable to afford the cost of athletes' ocean voyage tickets.

For countries already in dire financial straits, Spain's goodwill was naturally welcomed. As Spanish mail ships continued to travel back and forth around the world, most of the national sports delegations that had pledged to participate in the Olympics arrived in Spain in May 1917.

　First update of 3200 words, please support!
　　Two more chapters to come, please vote with your monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)