[Redmen4ever]

According to the World Bank, out-of-pocket expenditures are 85 percent of private health care in Japan.

But, in the U.S., the comparable figure is 21 percent.

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.OOPC.ZS

So which of these rich countries has more “health insurance?”

In Japan, most people pay out-of-pocket for ordinary expenses. Insurance is there for extraordinary expenses. This keeps costs down, and strengthens the role of the consumer in the marketplace.

In the US, people think of health insurance as free or provided their employer or by the government. So, they want health insurance to cover everything. Mental illness, check. Vision care Eye care. Just wait.

The US will never, ever, ever have enough money free health care. Health care will be rationed by waiting lines. People will quietly die while waiting in line. This is the way it is in the U.K.

[ExTxMarine]

People will quietly die while waiting in line. This is the way it is in the U.K.

Unfortunately, that's the way it is at the VA (America's current version of single-payer)!!

I had steel pins put into my ankle while on active duty, then got put out on a medical discharge, with the pins still in place. The pins were to be removed within 12-16 months. The VA refused to remove the pins, because I didn't have a high enough rate of recovery (basically, removing the pins wouldn't make me at least 75% better than my current condition), so they denied my REQUIRED surgery.

I had to pay my personal doctor to have the pins removed!! And it took so long for the VA to screw around and everything, my ankle had started growing over the head of the screws, which cost me more to have them removed and lengthened my recovery time! Gotta love single-payer!!