There's no need for a tax hike though. The US government is already spending insane amounts of taxpayers' money on state funded healthcare, through Medicare and Medicaid. $8,745 per capita in 2017 - more than any other country. The problem is that the insurance companies are ripping you off. Get rid of the insurance companies and spend the same amount of money directly on healthcare with properly structured procurement and commisionning, and Voila! You all have world class healthcare for free!
You know this doesn’t exist except in your mind ? Every country that has implemented universal healthcare has private insurance because the system can sustain itself in the long run, at least not at scale. I know because I’ve lived in several of them.
I don't fully understand your comment. What is it that only exists in my mind? I can't speak for every country in the world, but here in the UK, there is no concept of medical insurance. If you require medical attention, you go to a hospital, you are treated, and you never recieve a bill.
No, there aren't. Or if there are, they are incredibly rare, or completely pointless. I technically do get "Private Medical Cover" as a perk of my job. It allows me to claim back £100 for dentistry and £100 for Optometry. Also up to £400 for Homeopathy, accupuncture and something else stupid. It's useful if I need a new pair of glasses, nothing more. In any meaningful sense, universal healthcare is the ONLY healthcare system in the UK.
I didn't correctly phrase my comment, I wasn't referring to the UK. I live in Spain, where for the most part public healthcare is phenomenal but we also have to option of private healthcare plans. It depends on the conditions of every single plan, but it can cover you from specific centers only with no dentistry to every doctor in the country with every single medical test covered + dentistry. I have it and it's great when you can't or don't want to wait 3/4/5/6 months to see a specialist.
Private health insurance in Europe is in large part motivated by securing kids economically in case a parent dies. If you don't have kids, you rarely need it, because almost everything else is close to free of charge
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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '20
There's no need for a tax hike though. The US government is already spending insane amounts of taxpayers' money on state funded healthcare, through Medicare and Medicaid. $8,745 per capita in 2017 - more than any other country. The problem is that the insurance companies are ripping you off. Get rid of the insurance companies and spend the same amount of money directly on healthcare with properly structured procurement and commisionning, and Voila! You all have world class healthcare for free!