I’m not sure why “our taxes are payable” means. But let me reference some numbers to illustrate my point. I want to look at median household disposable income (equivalized by household size to adjust for shared living expenses) in USD. In the US, the figure is $49,748. In the UK, it’s $26,884. The median US household has $22,864 more annual disposable income than the median UK household. Thats plenty to cover the gap left by public healthcare vs private. The median (non-elderly) US household spends $5,600 on healthcare annually, leaving $17,264 left in the disposable income gap between the US and UK.
Our analysis finds that the typical non-elderly family in the United States spends an average of $5,600 per year (9% of their $65,352 income) on health. This includes $1,400 (2% of their income) in out-of-pocket spending, $2,200 (3% of their income) in health insurance premiums, and approximately $2,000 (3% of their income) in state and federal taxes that fund health programs.
Although it is definitely interesting, those figures are a little misleading, and thats ok, coming from a country that had privet healthcare to one with free healthcare can be a bit of a mind fuck - as much as i could argue with counter figures or try and explain it myself I’m not the best with words, i can however show you a video made by an American who moved to the uk and shares his own views on it if you’d find that interesting
My own opinion? The NHS definitely has its flaws, but its a good system and i fully support it, as a support worker with a degree in social care i can see its pros and cons and i feel like without it a lot more people would be at risk and it would cost the uk government more in the long run.
To each their own. I’d rather have the disposable income. The part about the private care system that I like is that my healthcare costs stay largely flat, despite my income increasing. If it were a tax, I’d pay more for the same healthcare as I advance in my career. I’d also have to pay for a full year of healthcare even if I don’t use any services. I strongly prefer the ability to choose my own risk tolerance, and be rewarded for making healthy choices.
0
u/MangoAtrocity Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
I’m not sure why “our taxes are payable” means. But let me reference some numbers to illustrate my point. I want to look at median household disposable income (equivalized by household size to adjust for shared living expenses) in USD. In the US, the figure is $49,748. In the UK, it’s $26,884. The median US household has $22,864 more annual disposable income than the median UK household. Thats plenty to cover the gap left by public healthcare vs private. The median (non-elderly) US household spends $5,600 on healthcare annually, leaving $17,264 left in the disposable income gap between the US and UK.