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This reflects my experience in Canada. It's really hard to figure out how much of your taxes goes specifically towards health care, but we put a significant amo

This reflects my experience in Canada. It's really hard to figure out how much of your taxes goes specifically towards health care, but we put a significant amount of effort into a calculation a few years ago and came up with a number in the same ballpark as the premiums for a very good private plan in the US. The problem is then trying to compare the composition; there are lots of aspects of the Canadian public plan that are superior to the USA, notably access to frontline services and certain widely used drugs (in the news: cheap insulin w/o a prescription). There are also many components that are vastly inferior, like timely access to diagnostics or procedures that seem "quality of life" related but really are not (ex: delayed hip replacements lead to major health issues). So it's not just free vs. pay, but also what exactly you're buying. Unfortunately the single public payer in Canada system is a sacred cow, much like the idea of "socialized medicine" in the US is a non-starter. Everyone just digs their heels in and holds to the extremes, so the idea of small experiments of change never gets much traction...

AlexandrB 7y ago
> It's really hard to figure out how much of your taxes goes specifically towards health care, but we put a significant amount of effort into a calculation a few years ago and came up with a number in the same ballpark as the premiums for a very good private plan in the US. The magic is that everyone gets this healthcare. Not only those able to afford the premiums for a very good private plan. On the one hand this is straight socialism. On the other it prevents bankruptcy (and downward economic mobility) due to serious health issues and allows access to quality healthcare to students, entrepreneurs, those between jobs, etc. I don't understand how someone in the US can consider themselves more "free" than in more socialist countries when they're deeply beholden to their employers for basics like medical care.
- toasterlovin 7y ago
  Medicaid provides free health care to 74 million low income Americans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid.
  - vharuck 7y ago
    Not everyone qualifies for Medicaid, and those who do must regularly jump through hoops in most states. It's obvious some states are trying to push people off Medicaid even if they don't have other insurance.

AlexandrB 7y ago

> It's really hard to figure out how much of your taxes goes specifically towards health care, but we put a significant amount of effort into a calculation a few years ago and came up with a number in the same ballpark as the premiums for a very good private plan in the US. The magic is that everyone gets this healthcare. Not only those able to afford the premiums for a very good private plan. On the one hand this is straight socialism. On the other it prevents bankruptcy (and downward economic mobility) due to serious health issues and allows access to quality healthcare to students, entrepreneurs, those between jobs, etc. I don't understand how someone in the US can consider themselves more "free" than in more socialist countries when they're deeply beholden to their employers for basics like medical care.

toasterlovin 7y ago
Medicaid provides free health care to 74 million low income Americans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid.
- vharuck 7y ago
  Not everyone qualifies for Medicaid, and those who do must regularly jump through hoops in most states. It's obvious some states are trying to push people off Medicaid even if they don't have other insurance.