Right, so lets add up all the taxes that you pay. What would you say is the average income tax rate and what does one pay for National Health?
In the US, the average income tax rate is 24% - so roughly the same as the UK
In the US, the highest sales tax is in California at 7.25% (some areas also have local sales taxes, but that is generally the exception - the absolute highest in some little hick town in Alabama at 13%) - while the UK is effectively 20%. The difference being that VAT is hidden in the price of the product, while it is added on at the register in the US.
Most Americans are covered through some sort of health insurance through their employer and pay $4500 out of pocket (premiums and co-pays) while an unsubsidized person pays about $10,000 per year. The average senior pays $144 a month for Medicare, but one can get "Medicare Advantage" plans that tie you to a specific list of doctors and hospitals and may actually have a zero cost per month. For normally uninsured persons (low income etc.), there is Medicaid or if you don't qualify for that, then there is the "affordable Care Act" that have plans for roughly the same cost as Medicare.
Public hospitals will not turn anyone away based on ability to pay. Private hospitals must treat acute patients and transfer them once stable.
If you end up at a hospital that accepts your insurance (most accept all of the large carriers) then there is a huge difference between the billed charges and the allowed charges - so those $60 socks actually ends up costing the insurance company about $10.
My mom has Medicare and a supplemental insurance for about $50 a month (so $200 total), has had a pacemaker, gallbladder surgery, cataract surgery and a couple of Emergency Room visits with zero additional out of pocket expenses. I pay about $300 a month, have a $20 co-pay per visit and a $6000 catastrophic cap.
Most anyone can get some sort of affordable insurance, but it is easier to bitch and moan about how expensive healthcare is
Forgot to add that N.I. contributions also pay for your state pension when you get to retirement age...
Average UK wage is £31,461
N.I. is dependent on N.I. Category..if you be "J" or "Z" then 2%..if A/H/M then 12%...so up to a max N.I. of £2,621.75/yr or £218.47/month
Income tax is 0% for the first £12,500
For the pay of £12,501 to £31,461 is taxed at 20% therefore you pay = £3,792/yr or £316/month
So the average UK monthly wage before Taxes etc. is £2,621.75,
£218.47/month is taken as N.I.
£316/month is taken as income tax
You are left with £2,087.28/month as "take home"...
I know nobody who has paid a single cent for the COViD vaccine. And yes, there are always horror stories about somebody going from hospital to hospital, but you get the same in the UK - or in the EU or anywhere else.
We're not paying it..its the government that pays it to the makers of the Covid vaccine....just the lot what made the Oxford one are charging the Gov £3 per dose...
& NO we (in UK) don't have horror stories of people being dragged form hospital to hospital because the hospital won't take them as no health insurance...the only time people get moved to different hospitals is because either the local one 's ICU beds are full, or they don't have the best specialists for that particular patients requirements.
Like I said before you can be homeless, & no income & no NI contributions & still get full health care FREE...unfortunately this is why we attract many immigrants from Europe & further afield our FREE health care to everybody....