Astronomer

No worries. I know more than enough about the subject currently at hand (being public healthcare systems), I just am not familiar with US system. I thought I'd contribute to the thread as an individual living in a country with a public healthcare system which allows healthcare to be affordable for every single citizen. I never claimed to know everything about how the system works in other countries, in fact I clearly stated in my original posts that I was actually baffled as to why in some countries people can't afford appropriate healthcare and that I wasn't sure how it worked.

Regarding US tax dollars, I got my information from The Center of Budget and Policy Priorities which states that, in this order, US tax dollars go towards:

1. Defense and international security assistance
3. Interest on debt
3. Social security
4. Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP (however unfortunately these programs do not seem to service most of the general public as it seems? I am not sure. Feel free to correct me on this. Like I said, and I have to say multiple times, I am not claiming to know everything but am instead merely just contributing to the discussion with my opinions, questions, and experiences.)
5. "Other"
6. Safety net programs

Australia's tax dollars are spent in this order, according to our equivalent data organisation:

1. Social security and welfare
2. Health
3. "All other functions" (not really sure what this means)
4. Education
5. General public services
6. Defense

Just for comparison. Clearly the tax spending priorities of different countries are very different and it will have various affects on the way society operates and what people can afford. I just thought that in the wake of all these new healthcare acts emerging worldwide, it is interesting to look at the way tax dollars are spent in different places with different healthcare programs.

EDIT: Obviously Australia is doing something right in terms of livability (which includes health and public services) if 4 of our major cities are included in the top 10 list of most livable cities according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Same goes for Canada, Finland and New Zealand who have similar healthcare programs. I don't understand why so many people are against this kind of system in the US. (I'm not criticising their stance, I'm saying I actually don't understand).

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