[vimacs2]

I wonder how well would things turn out if people were given the choice to opt out of public healthcare. You don't get taxed on it but also cannot use it (except in ER situations obviously).

I'd imagine that most people would stay signed on but it does give people who either distrust public institutions or just don't feel like they would benefit from a public option a choice.

Full disclosure: I am firmly on the side of socialised medicine.

[peytn]

We have public hospitals already. People happily opt out. They’d opt out even harder if there was a tax break.

[vimacs2]

Yes but that's not really the same thing as real nationwide public healthcare. Going by my experiences in the UK at least, people tend to have a lot of pride with them even if they also will complain about issues with it.

It's considered political suicide to even openly discuss dismantling the NHS which is why even the Tories continue to tip toe around the issue even after having been in control of government for more than a decade at this point.