I never understood this because other countries have free healthcare and we don’t! We get sick and it’s expensive to even pay for anything!
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Other countries pay over 50%of their wages to the government. Other country’s citizens often spend years on waitlists for treatment. People with money come to the US because they can get the best health care in the world and can actually get seen by a doctor.
You underestimate the amount of people employed, and therefore money spent, to try and deny your claims.
Because other countries don’t count on deaths of their citizens so big Pharma and hospitals can make money.
Because your government does not negotiate prices.
Universal healthcare basically acts like a union or guild when it comes to pharmaceuticals.
5 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world are based in coutnries where universal healthcare exists. It doesnt hinder them. Its literally the US government being blocked by socialismophobes from properly managing drug prices.
Labor costs make up most of it. A doctor in the US makes on average $300k a year. In Germany they make $166k. In France, $130k.
Answer: insurance companies and the boardroom-types in privatized hospitals and pharma companies earn a (huge) profit while not actually providing any healthcare.
Other countries correctly circumvent this by having public ‘socialized’ healthcare systems. It cuts out all the for-profit middlemen.
Nobody has free healthcare, it’s just paid for with taxes. I lived the first half of my life in a single payer country, and believe me when I say it’s just as inefficient (maybe more so in some ways) than a multi payer system. If you have employer-sponsored healthcare in the U.S., you have better healthcare for a lower individual cost than anyone else in the world (for instance, my plan is $2,000 maximum out of pocket per year and $200/month premiums – my work pays like $1,200/month for it). But if you don’t have an employer plan, you’re pretty fucked.
US healthcare assumes you have a job that provides health insurance, and provides government healthcare to people who’ve aged out of their job. Because almost every job does this, the sticker price isn’t something most people actually pay.
This obviously causes issues for people whose jobs provide poor or no health insurance, but those jobs are relatively rare, so it doesn’t effect enough people for there to be a significant push for change. Even most entry level jobs provide enough health insurance to pay for preventative care and cover most minor injuries, and major injuries/disease aren’t common.
Free market / profit motive
Somethings should never be for profit: Education, Healthcare, Utilities, Prisons, Public Transportation, Emergency Services
I pay $200 a month, 5% of my post tax monthly income, on HDHP health insurance. It covers everything I’ve ever needed, including getting stitches a few times, and has a HSA fund to cover copays and stuff like prescriptions and contacts. Most decent office jobs, any federal jobs (the biggest employer in the country), or other positions with large companies offer health insurance similar to or better than this
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