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As a Canadian, this is astonishing. All our governments spend around $4500 usd per capita on health. That's about $6000 Canadian. That's for full coverage. No
by graeme 10y ago
As a Canadian, this is astonishing. All our governments spend around $4500 usd per capita on health. That's about $6000 Canadian.
That's for full coverage. No deductibles. Only things not covered are dental, vision and prescription drugs.
I have dental, vision and paramedical insurance for $1000 us annually. This covers most of my expenses, and also covers some things like massage therapy and physio. It's also as business expense, and avoids the need to pay into my provincial drug plan. So I more or less break even on this.
Prescription drugs? Depends on the province. In Quebec, if you have no other insurance, the public plan will take around $500 per year off your taxes and give you full coverage.
Personally, I have full coverage through my private health plan (the one that costs $1000 per year). I got it by being, among other things, a writer. That lets me get the group plan for writers. Most professions will have such an organization. Failing that, en entrepreneur can join their chamber of commerce form $150 or so a year, and get a similar plan for similar rates.
I would have been knocked out of business 3-4 times over without this. Major health issue that required surgery three years ago. Cost me $0. And in my first year I had to get my wisdom teeth out: fully covered by my plan. There's been a few other expenses, and also the ability to do physio et al for RSI due to computer work.
I can't fathom doing it the American way. My taxes are somewhat higher in Quebec, but the difference in health costs more than makes up for it.
In particular, I can't believe that with all those medical costs, you still have to pay large deductibles.
Oh, and the services here are good, and fairly for for things that aren't elective. And a private system exists too if you need to go faster.
- refurb 10y agoMy taxes are somewhat higher in Quebec High tax bracket in Quebec... $103K+ = 25.95% Lowest tax bracket in Canada (BC)... $106K+ = 14.7% That's added on top of the highest federal bracket of 33% for income over $200K. I'd say Quebec taxes are a LOT higher. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_taxes_in_Canada#Quebec https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_taxes_in_Canada#Quebec
- graeme 10y agoWhat are typical American taxes? It was hard to find info, the calculators are confusing. I also heard some cities like manhattan have income taxes too. What would a New Yorker or Californian pay? We do have a 13% national sales tax which I don't think states have. Yeah, for those earning over $200K it's quite punishing, and would probably amount to more than the health savings. I think there aren't corporate structures that make it less rough though.
- woud420 10y agoBeing from Quebec and working in Manhattan, I figure I can have some input on this. In Quebec, at income X, my effective tax rate was around 34%, which includes federal and provincial rates. I did have a private plan at work although I don't fully recall how much it would cost me per paycheck, it was really low. In NY, at income 3X (including exchange rate), the rate is similar, I think around 33-34% including federal, state and municipal income tax (which is ballpark 3%). I do have private insurance here which amounts to a couple hundred a month. Personally in the end, I get better service in the States but I'm probably biased. edit : Sales tax ~8.5%
- loeg 10y agoThe highest US federal bracket is 39.6% and I believe the highest state bracket is around 12.3% (California). The highest state sales tax is around 9.5% (Tennessee and other states without income tax). Local taxes are typically much lower in magnitude. (NYC income tax is another 3.9% for the highest earners.) So at the very high end, someone in NYC might pay 52.3% income tax (edit: marginal rate) and 8% in sales tax. And at the high end in California (San Francisco), someone might pay 51.9% income tax (edit: marginal rate) and 8.75% in sales tax. (This is a little simplistic; I think you can deduct state income tax from federal tax, lowering the overall high marginal rate somewhat.)
- rm999 10y ago>And at the high end in California (San Francisco), someone might pay 51.9% income tax and 8.75% in sales tax. What you're talking about is the marginal tax rate, i.e. the limit as income -> infinity, but it's typically much much lower than this (even for the wealthy). Most people pay in the 10-20% range for federal income taxes. Millionares pay in this range too for several reasons, capital gains and write-offs. The blue line on this plot shows the effective federal income tax: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#/media/File:U.S._Federal_Income_Tax_Rates_2013.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_State....
- rayiner 10y agoCanada's taxes as a percentage of GDP is about 38% versus 28% for the U.S. Unless you're rich, though, you'll pay more taxes in the U.S.
- r00fus 10y agoSo instead of paying an extra 10% in tax, you get to pay that 10% to the medical industry directly.