I don't know if it is insurance or the administration on both the provider and insurer sides. I have a horrible respiratory infection in western Europe, here I'

I don't know if it is insurance or the administration on both the provider and insurer sides. I have a horrible respiratory infection in western Europe, here I'd have likely died or been so overcharged I'd wish I had died. There 17 days in ICU on a ventilator and a few weeks or normal hospital recovery the total bill in 2001 was under $20K, the Euro and Dollar were almost even then so the conversion isn't important. Now if a local had needed that bed more I might have not been as lucky. This is what a well organized society can do, keep everyone under some level of free care so there is less chaos in their ER departments and that they'd have time to treat a foreigner well. If we switched to single payer the estimates are that we'd save money as a nation the first year, even with all the backlog of needed care and any transition costs. The savings would compound as preventive care started preventing more serious outcomes and things like car insurance and liability insurance would come down in cost too.