The idea that Australian healthcare is "free" is rather ridiculous. We have Medicare Levy of 2%, Medicare Levy Surcharge of up to 1.5% (both calculated on your income _before_ income tax), plus according to my latest tax receipt about 20% of the income tax goes towards healthcare as well.
On top of that (and in conjunction with Medical Levy Surcharge) the government pushes everyone to have private health insurance, and it makes a huge difference in terms of wait times for "elective" hospital procedures (i.e. anything that won't kill you very soon).
All in all, last year I paid some AUD16k getting no medical services at all.
Paying all that you're still out of pocket for anything serious, as specialists (anesthetists, urologists, gynos, you name it) are typically charging way above Medicare standard fees and private insurance doesn't cover that completely.
The US's Medicare levy is 2.9% and 30% of the total Federal budget[1] is spent on healthcare (that doesn't include state and local spending). The US spends more taxpayer money per capita than Australia and gets much, much less to show for it.
[1] Sorry: 30% of Federal outlays are spent on healthcare, only some of that is part of the "budget"
It does. Dentistry is excluded from Medicare entirely, and with many "elective" procedures (i.e. ligament repairs, endometriosis removal, tonsillectomy) you might have to wait it pain for months until you're seen, unless you have private insurance and are willing to pay the "gap".
That doesn't mean to say that it's as bad as in the US, but it does exist.
I'd also go out on a limb and say that there are more poor people in the USA than in Australia per capita, which might factor into how many people can't afford healthcare.
Yeah, you have to wait for months in the US, too. I have no idea how this talking point got started but whoever came up with it clearly hasn't dealt with healthcare in the US. Months-long waits for non-emergency appointments have been the norm for decades.
On top of that (and in conjunction with Medical Levy Surcharge) the government pushes everyone to have private health insurance, and it makes a huge difference in terms of wait times for "elective" hospital procedures (i.e. anything that won't kill you very soon).
All in all, last year I paid some AUD16k getting no medical services at all.
Paying all that you're still out of pocket for anything serious, as specialists (anesthetists, urologists, gynos, you name it) are typically charging way above Medicare standard fees and private insurance doesn't cover that completely.