It's definitely not free. Someone is paying for it: the government, the taxpayer, etc. On a person by person basis, you can call it free because that individual doesn't pay, but that's just because they're making their neighbors pay for them.
I accept the US does pay more, but the original question I had was confined to how individuals are finding themselves in 5 to 6 figures of medical debt, given a 9K OOP maximum. The apparent answer is some combination of they weren't paying for insurance (even the comparatively tiny post-subsidy ACA plan amounts) and a broader "insurance billing is tough and messy".
As for health outcomes, the part you're leaving unsaid is just how much money in American healthcare is going to treat and manage costly chronic conditions. As just one example, the "obesity rate in the U.S. is 42%, which is a whopping 134% higher than the average of the other five nations (Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland)", and the CDC estimates "obesity alone costs the US healthcare system a colossal $147 billion annually" [1].
Do you think centralizing our healthcare into a single payer or government run model would address the fact that so many Americans are so unhealthy as to consistently need thousands of dollars of care a year? Is the Canadian, UK, or US VA healthcare systems a "model system" in your opinion?
> s the Canadian, UK, or US VA healthcare systems a "model system" in your opinion?
No, because every system has problems. But they are better.
Single-payer systems are more efficient by definition. When you don't have thousands of insurers and the logistical overhead of that, you save money.
Also, yes America is unhealthy... but not that unhealthy in the scheme of western countries. Obesity is very slightly lower in the UK, for instance. And we have less tobacco use than the UK.
I accept the US does pay more, but the original question I had was confined to how individuals are finding themselves in 5 to 6 figures of medical debt, given a 9K OOP maximum. The apparent answer is some combination of they weren't paying for insurance (even the comparatively tiny post-subsidy ACA plan amounts) and a broader "insurance billing is tough and messy".
As for health outcomes, the part you're leaving unsaid is just how much money in American healthcare is going to treat and manage costly chronic conditions. As just one example, the "obesity rate in the U.S. is 42%, which is a whopping 134% higher than the average of the other five nations (Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland)", and the CDC estimates "obesity alone costs the US healthcare system a colossal $147 billion annually" [1].
Do you think centralizing our healthcare into a single payer or government run model would address the fact that so many Americans are so unhealthy as to consistently need thousands of dollars of care a year? Is the Canadian, UK, or US VA healthcare systems a "model system" in your opinion?
1 - https://www.halletecco.com/blog/why-americans-are-unhealthy