[klausjensen]

It certainly is not. It is paid for by one of the highest tax rates in the world. I currently work in Norway and pay more than 50% in income tax and social contributions - and that does not even include other taxes and excise duties like the 25% VAT, the 9USD/gallon gas price (mostly tax) or the new car tax of something like 150-200%, property taxes, road taxes, vehicle taxes, alchold and tobacco taxes...

So no, it is certainly not "free".

(And yes, people in Scandinavia stating things are "free" is a rant-trigger for me.)

[rnd33]

And people in America stating that healthcare is not free is a rant-trigger for me.

Everyone here knows that it's not "free" but subsidised by taxes. That's what "free" means when talking about healthcare, free at the point of service, and free as equally available to everyone.

How else would it work? Are the doctors without pay and with no equipment?

[anoncowherd]

It's an important point to make that even "free" healthcare is not actually free - the money has to come from somewhere, and most of it comes from forcefully confiscating it from people.

Not only that, but if you're using money, it's much easier to use someone else's money instead of your own, you just won't be too careful about how you spend it. In fact, if you've got a "limitless" supply of other people's money, you just won't give a fuck about what you do with it. This is one reason why public healthcare (and public anything) turns to shit sooner or later.

[potatolicious]

> "Not only that, but if you're using money, it's much easier to use someone else's money instead of your own, you just won't be too careful about how you spend it."

Sounds logical on paper but doesn't bear out in reality - just about every country where health care is provided via "confiscated funds" pays dramatically less for better outcomes than the USA where people are responsible for spending their own money.

The Parasite(tm) is more bedtime-story boogeyman than observed reality. They exist, but in far fewer numbers than reported, and their effects on the system far less grave than prognosticated.

[TaffeyLewis]

This makes a lot of sense in fact, if for nothing else than the simple reason that most people really don't want to be sick or pretend to be sick so bad that they actually spend a lot of time at a hospital.. They have better things to do.

In Canada, where I'm from, most of the people I know avoid doctors and hospitals unless they really aren't feeling good. They don't want the hassle of waiting and waiting again to see specialists or get a procedure of some kind done.

The canadian socialized system is still really, really slow though for non emergency care but I never believed it was because of parasites wasting hospital resources.

[anoncowherd]

>> Sounds logical on paper but doesn't bear out in reality - just about every country where health care is provided via "confiscated funds" pays dramatically less for better outcomes than the USA where people are responsible for spending their own money.

The US healthcare system is truly fucked, but serves as another great example of how people use someone else's money. That's why healthcare is so absurdly expensive there. Patients generally aren't using their own money to pay for medical services, and so, insurance companies get charged ridiculous prices behind the scenes, and the customer doesn't care. Businesses are forced to buy insurance, right?

Well, without the "forced middlemen" of insurance companies, and with customers paying for whatever services they use, you can bet your ass that health care would be massively cheaper. Competition drives quality up, and prices down.

>> The Parasite(tm) is more bedtime-story boogeyman than observed reality

I hadn't even heard of that "theory". But I bet I would have, if I were still watching Bill Maher's show.

You're right in that some parasite patients are not the problem. The whole system is.

Think about it. If you're running a hospital on a "limitless" supply of other people's money (as in, "public healthcare"), you're just not that concerned with efficiency, nor the quality of your services, because you don't have to be. It doesn't matter if your customers are unhappy, because you'll still be getting your money! .. It's blindingly obvious that this kind of system is doomed, but of course, healthcare is not socialized in order to make it better. It's socialized to make the masses dependent on the State.

[xxpor]

So I assume you don't buy insurance, for anything ever, correct?

[lovskogen]

The norm is 36%, if you earn a lot you'll get taxed more. But your income never has a say in you wanting to have a child or not.

[nawitus]

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