despite the fact that our president has passed the "affordable care act."

In Norway we use the universal health care system, while not completely free in some cases it does reduce health care cost to a minimum, meaning nobody gets ruined financially if they get sick. If you are rushed to the hospital, the first thing they ask is: Where does it hurt? Not: Do you have health insurance? Because the bill is already taken care of. Major surgery is free and is paid by the government through our taxes. Minor surgery is usually not free and private clinics can charge what they like (although those on disability and pensions have a card that limits what they have to pay in year, if the amounts gets bigger than the limit set, whatever medical attention you need beyond that is free!). Few people have health insurance here actually, people are much more likely to have a life insurance instead. If a medication is vital and is required for you to live, the doctor writes out something called a "blue" prescription and is therefore free and paid for by the state (in our case, the entire country) All other prescriptions which are not vital to stay alive are not free. Everybody in Norway also get a free international health care card which basically says that if you get sick anywhere in the world outside of Norway, the bill should be sent to Norway. So while not flawless, it's pretty damn good and is ranked at Nr. 11 on a global scale. I'm sure i'm missing other stuff too.

That must be nice. Would a broken ankle be considered major or minor surgery?

We have the fabled NHS. You get 'free' healthcare, assuming you don't mind the wait and the possibility of being one of the poor unfortunates who gets left to die of thirst!

I get taxed slightly over 50% of what I make for stuff like healthcare, social welfare etc. so in a word: outrageous.

my guess is that your govt doesn't properly fund its healtcare system, especially in comparison to the military bills you've been footing, gallivanting across the globe with us for the greater part of two decades.

*waits for the hate*

Fraid not...

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk_de ... ng_30.html

But yeah, big changes are needed, especially since we have an ageing population that needs a different sort of care than the NHS provides.

I get taxed slightly over 50% of what I make for stuff like healthcare, social welfare etc. so in a word: outrageous.

We have the fabled NHS. You get 'free' healthcare, assuming you don't mind the wait and the possibility of being one of the poor unfortunates who gets left to die of thirst!

Sounds like you made out like a bandit assuming that your 50% would have covered any medical expenses you had and kept folks you know who live at the poverty line in their houses.