# The Greek health care system

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Greek health care system," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/greek-health-care-system/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's description of Greek health care as a two-tier system in which the private sector buys nothing but position in the queue, a procedure that takes eleven or twelve months on the public system takes one or two privately, and the care itself is the same.*

- **Structure:** A universal public system alongside a private one
- **What private buys:** Position in the queue, not different care
- **Public wait for a procedure:** Eleven or twelve months
- **Private wait:** One or two months
- **Kiriakou''s verdict:** 'The health care system is fantastic'

Told that Brazil operates a universal public health service alongside a paid private one, [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) said the arrangement was the same in [Greece](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-citizenship), and called the model *"an advanced society right there."*[1]

*"That's exactly how it is in Greece. The health care system is fantastic. They have a private system, all the private system does is it gets you moved closer to the front of the line. So if you use just the public system and you need a procedure, maybe it's going to take eleven or twelve months. If you have the private system, you can get the procedure in one or two months. That's the only difference."*[2]

The point of the comparison, in context, is that the treatment does not differ by payment, only the waiting does. He offers it in the same conversation in which he argues that [Americans do not know what the word socialism means](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/americans-and-the-word-socialism).[2]

## See also

- [Kiriakou's Greek citizenship](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-citizenship)
- [Americans And The Word Socialism](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/americans-and-the-word-socialism)
- [Kiriakou Greek whistleblower law](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-whistleblower-law)
- [The Greek Orthodox Church](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/greek-orthodox-church)

## Sources

1. Charlie Kirk's Story Cracks — Hegseth (2025-12-09), at 49:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2Sh1zpgfU&t=2981s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-09-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-cracks-hegseth/
2. Charlie Kirk's Story Cracks — Hegseth (2025-12-09), at 50:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2Sh1zpgfU&t=3012s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-09-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-cracks-hegseth/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/greek-health-care-system/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt