I think a lot of people are missing one key difference. Healthcare in EU is based on solidarity system where every citizen pays a percentage share of his monthly salary to the medical insurance. So if you earn more, then you will also pay more medical insurance - but you will get the same treatment as others (unless you have some fancy private insurance on top of the regular insurance).
So basically any medical expense is subsided by every citizen in the country indirectly.
I believe this is a completely different way of looking at things than in the US. The average EU citizen doesn't really think that the monthly medical deduction from his salary is just for his use or it's his own insurance, it's only a contribution to the whole system.
This is how progressive taxation works. For some reason, US people happily pay for police, firemen, infrastructure or the military as a necessity of a functioning society but have serious problems considering healthcare in the same group.
Police and fire are paid for by local or state taxes, with some federal outlays via matching grant programs. Cities and states are free to start their own local and state tax funded programs. The only thing getting in the way is the enormous cost!
Taxation in the US is significantly more progressive than in most (if not all) of Europe. In Europe, bulk of tax revenues come from high tax rates on middle class, while in the US, most of the tax revenue is paid by the wealthy. In concrete terms, Americans in top 1% of income distribution pay nearly 40% of all federal income tax, and top 10% pays 70% of all federal income tax. That’s significantly more progressive than all large European countries.
one could make the argument than the benefits of police, firemen, and military scale somewhat proportionately with wealth. people with meaningful assets have a lot to lose if the police stop protecting their property or the US navy can't guarantee relatively safe trade by sea. their house is probably worth more too. a homeless person probably gets hassled by police much more often than protected by them. socialized healthcare mostly benefits people who don't have and/or can't easily afford good insurance.
That's a very American way of thinking. I am totally fine that I contribute with a bigger part and it's used for people that would not be able to afford it.
I don’t know if you realize this, but when you write it this way it seems that you are implying an ‘American way of thinking’ is a morally inferior one.
Right but the biggest country in the EU isn't ~330 million people from about a half-dozen fairly distinct cultures. Remember that the US has cultural representation from many European countries and also quite a few non-European countries.
I'm not suggesting that Italy or Greece or Germany are actually homogeneous culturally but with smaller populations and significantly less immigration than the US I suspect that the variances are smaller and perhaps more surmountable.
Germany's population (83 million) is only about 1/4 of the US and as you go down the list the countries only get smaller.
I believe this is a completely different way of looking at things than in the US. The average EU citizen doesn't really think that the monthly medical deduction from his salary is just for his use or it's his own insurance, it's only a contribution to the whole system.