US healthcare culture is very different from that of many countries with "free" universal healthcare. In many such countries, there's no such thing as a yearly

US healthcare culture is very different from that of many countries with "free" universal healthcare. In many such countries, there's no such thing as a yearly / annual checkup. People go to the doctor when they feel sick - or if they actually get checkups, it's in the light of some illness like cancer. Usually, there's nor any "full" check, meaning that doctors will run every test known to man on you, just to be sure. Tests are done in a holistic way, as they start getting an idea of what's wrong with you. And unless you have something really pressing, you won't get an appointment (or even treatment) STRAIGHT AWAY. I guess my point is that a lot of Americans would probably feel that they were receiving vastly inferior treatment, but maybe they're used to getting overtreatment? In any case - doing all that extra stuff adds up.