Usa people, having a NHS is awesome!

Most people in the UK (everyone aside from the uber rich) loves the NHS. I just want you all to know that when we look at you across the pond, we have no idea why some of you fight so vigorously against the idea of universal health care.

I just wanna say this because sometimes I hear Americans bad mouthing our health care system and sure, its a massive organization and like all huge organizations there are horrible mistakes, but you never ever hear of the 99.999% of the times when people are cured/saved.

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Heartlander · 80-89, M

It probably goes to why the US isn't part of the Commonwealth or the UK. We here are mostly descendents of immigrants who came here to escape places that had too much government and not enough personal choice.

In general we distrust large institutions or at least hold them at arm's length from our personal lives. We've had enough interaction with government agencies via military service and/or our local driver's license office to cause us to hesitate on any suggestion of universal health care. What failures we see in our own health care system are attributed to government interference rather than a failures of a free marketplace.

As measured in percent of gdp, the US pays about 25 percent of gdp in taxes. In the UK it's about 39 percent. To get all that extra government you enjoy in the UK, I don't think many of us in the US would be willing to pay 50 percent MORE in taxes than we do now. Remember, the US started with the belief that England was overtaxing us for what we in the colony got in return.