> Most other industrialized countries have heavy government involvement and pay half what we do with the same outcomes.
I lived in Canada for 10 years. I live in the US now. While living in Canada, I paid more to the government then I pay now. My health care costs for myself and my family are much cheaper. In fact, ignoring the costs of insurance (which was effectively the same) and taxes (which were 3 times higher in Canada, and on everything), my costs for equal service I receive now would have been more than $36,000 more in Canada. That's partly a lie though. The services would not have been equal, as we can get home care here, whereas in Canada, we could not.
This also ignores the 1-2 year waiting list for private care we would have had to deal with in Canada. In the US, we had treatment started within 2 weeks of moving here.
Well, if you want dueling anecdotes, I lived in the U.S. for years, and now live in Denmark, and I pay much less for healthcare coverage now. My sole healthcare expense now is 8% of my salary that goes to the flat health-system tax, whereas in the U.S. I not only had to pay Medicare taxes and general income taxes that supported various kinds of healthcare, but also had to pay a large copay. And, my coverage was tied to my employment, which it isn't anymore.
I lived in Canada for 10 years. I live in the US now. While living in Canada, I paid more to the government then I pay now. My health care costs for myself and my family are much cheaper. In fact, ignoring the costs of insurance (which was effectively the same) and taxes (which were 3 times higher in Canada, and on everything), my costs for equal service I receive now would have been more than $36,000 more in Canada. That's partly a lie though. The services would not have been equal, as we can get home care here, whereas in Canada, we could not.
This also ignores the 1-2 year waiting list for private care we would have had to deal with in Canada. In the US, we had treatment started within 2 weeks of moving here.