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Because Europe has strong unions that fight for the average worker's pay and benefits and no state and local sales tax.
Inform yourself, Mike. The US has the highest disposable income of all OECD countries.
Quote:
Household net adjusted disposable income
Household net adjusted disposable income is the amount of money that a household earns, or gains, each year after taxes and transfers. It represents the money available to a household for spending on goods or services.
Household adjusted disposable income includes income from economic activity (wages and salaries; profits of self-employed business owners), property income (dividends, interests and rents), social benefits in cash (retirement pensions, unemployment benefits, family allowances, basic income support, etc.), and social transfers in kind (goods and services such as health care, educationand housing, received either free of charge or at reduced prices).
That's the part of the equation never discussed when comparing to Canada as an example. How much does it cost the average family in taxes AND to insure themselves for a year in the U.S. compared to the tax paid by your average working stiff in Canada?
Which country's citizens are getting better value for tax dollars collected?
Its a no brainer really. Canadians pay $3266 per person per year in payroll taxes for their single payer system.
So a total of $3266 per person per year for their publicly funded single payer system.
Our 2.9% Medicare tax (1.45% for employer and 1.45% for employee) generates $230 billion per year or $710 per person per year.
So a 8% payroll tax on the employer and 4% payroll tax on the employee for a total of 12% payroll tax would generate $3200 per person per year. The same amount as Canadians pay for their single payer system for EVERY Canadian. This gives us some idea of how much we are getting ripped off.
If every other developed country on the planet can do it so can we. They are not all smarter than we are. Probably the first thing we need to do is reign back military spending to a reasonable level. It should not be 1/2 of our budget. Then we would be able to fund infrastructure and healthcare.
Both of those sources ignore the fact that the health insurance/care costs currently borne by employers and individuals would be shifted onto the Fed Gov under a single payer plan. Cite a source that addresses that issue, and see what they say about costs.
The Urban Institute takes into account the fact that employers and individuals would no longer be funding the costs of health insurance premiums or health care, as it would all fall on the Fed Gov to do so.
Average worker does not mean to average out what Bill Gates and Joe Sixpack make and concluding that it is $1 billion on average per year.
Of course America is a rich country. But not for everyone.
Its absurd to conclude that just because the average McDonalds worker in Denmark, who make $18 an hour with fantastic benefits and where the Big Mac costs 17% less than in America, accept a 25% VAT, that the Alabama McDonalds worker who make $7 an hour with no benefits and higher Big Mac price should accept a 35% sales tax.
Here in the US, the costs would bankrupt my family. I'd eat a bullet first. Here is what I have seen from our system:
My mother started feeling unwell, and couldn't afford a Dr, (Pre ACA). It got worse and worse, 5 months later after the first signs she passed out, and was taken to the hospital. Cancer. It was terminal, the Dr said if she had came in when first ill, she would have been able to be treated with a high probability of survival. She died.
I have a friend. her daughter was born with a pre-existing condition, and the medical bills forced them into bankruptcy. Their daughter died, and they had nothing. Over 4-5 years they recovered financially a bit. The husband had diabetes, and eventually needed dialysis, when he lost his job, and the insurance it provided, the cost of dialysis was slowly bringing them back down. He choose to die so his wife would be able to financially survive. So he stopped dialysis. He died 2 weeks later after saying good bye to everyone. He was in his mid 30's. Literally dead because the "greatest nation on earth" doesn't have universal healthcare like every other developed nation.
Another friend? She tells everyone to not call a ambulance unless her convulsions last for more then a minute. Epilepsy. The ambulance ride costs 1000's. There was a story on facebook about someone like her who wore a necklace saying something similar. My overseas friends were blown away by it and asked me if stuff like that happens. It does.
I could go on. This is America. See the post I responded too above? Thats Canada....and most other developed countries. And the Republicans answer to slightly better healthcare? Makes it worse so they can cut taxes on the wealthier more.
It's heart wrenching and sorry to hear about your mother.
If every other developed country on the planet can do it so can we.
I agree. Implement a 25% national VAT tax like many Scandinavian/European countries have, and we could fund national health care for all. For some inexplicable reason, US liberals are balking at doing so.
Household net adjusted disposable income is the amount of money that a household earns, or gains, each year after taxes and transfers. It represents the money available to a household for spending on goods or services.
Household adjusted disposable income includes income from economic activity (wages and salaries; profits of self-employed business owners), property income (dividends, interests and rents), social benefits in cash (retirement pensions, unemployment benefits, family allowances, basic income support, etc.), and social transfers in kind (goods and services such as health care, educationand housing, received either free of charge or at reduced prices).
Well the reason you see people in here trashing the Canadian healthcare system is because they are afraid of it becoming the law here. So they lie and try to make it seem like Canadians are dying in the streets because of "wait times". Even when that's proven blatantly false they usually counter with; "socialism", "freedom", "murica". Not sure what any of that has to do with why they don't want a single payer here. The propaganda is becoming laughable.
There was a guy on here, Mircea I believe his name is, that is convinced or more likely trying to convince others that Canadians are dying in the street and they hate their healthcare system. I kid you not he used the exact phrase "dying in the streets". I linked this site with his posts to my Canadian friends in Edmonton and they had a nice hardy laugh at his expense and couldn't believe the outright lies he was telling. I would have laughed too if the situation here weren't so critical. It's ridiculous. Our healthcare fiasco is now on the world stage for everyone to see. I think that's good though. Let people see how the US REALLY treats its citizens. It's nowhere near the image that they portray and would like for you to believe.
The good news is that people are finally, FINALLY waking up to the truth here and beginning to support the idea of a universal healthcare system for the US. At some point we are going to stop asking for it and start demanding it. And I believe with the recent vote by our house of representatives, that time is going to come a lot sooner than they think.
I know the poster you mean.
I've heard many bizarre and out right lies about our system.
I believe you are correct. As BruSan said, this conversation wouldn't of been possible on this level before. Thanks to the internet.
'Single Payer' healthcare may possibly be sustainable on an individual state level and some states already have crude forms of it but on a national level it would never be sustainable.
Explain how it would be.
Even for state like California, it's a long shot. Brown has already said there is no money for it.
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