well first glad to hear that they could help you and you are feeling fine.
But i get the impression many americans have a total wrong impression what the “european” version of “socialized” or “free” health care really means. Well it shure differs from country to country but for example in my country (austria) “we” have so called free or “socialized” health care. and this system works pretty well (of course not every single time perfekt but it really works). socialized health care does not mean that you are forced to use a state run health insurance it just guarantees everyone (even the poorest one) acess to basic medical care, meds...
but no one is forced to use this system anyway. there are a lot of private insurance companies out there (of course most are more expensive) who may have better conditions. and the moment you have a private insurance you will not have to pay only a single cent for the state run insurance. the state program just ensures that every one is covered by an ensurance that´s all. For example it´s true that if you work the state will use a certain percentage of your income tax to pay for your health insurance. (if you have no job they use some money of your “unemployed check” (again percentage based) to pay this. but as long as you have a private insurance you are not taxed for this. so usually people with a higher income opt out of this system because “they” benefit more from a private insurance. this is no problem. (btw. opting out does not mean that you will not be covered by the state again if you may lose the private insurance (maybe because you lost your job an are not able to pay the high rates anymore...). then you will just fall back into the “old” system. kids and people under 18 are covered anyway even they have never earned or payed in a single cent. (this is indeed payed from the normal tax everyone has to pay). so it just guarantees that every one has an insurance thats all. so it´s not this bad i guess it covers 99% of the people who are living here.
Well,Jonny, Austria’s plan sounds better than many others —
I know some well-to-do Norwegians who come to the U.S. on occasion to visit relatives. They wait to get vision check-ups, just as one example, because trying to get appointments and then new eyeglasses can take MONTHS in Norway.
Here, they arrive, see an eye doc, get prescriptions, and get their glasses all within a few days == just part of their vacatio. They are happy to pay out of pocket for this as it is much cheaper in the long run than waiting around for ‘care’ in Norway.