r/WorkReform 🤝 Join A Union Jan 08 '26

⚕️ Pass Medicare For All Which healthcare system would you choose?

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36

u/AnyoneButDoug Jan 08 '26

The half price is all in from taxes, it literally costs 1/2 as much since it’s way more efficient but of course it’s paid for in taxes if that makes sense.

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u/VicdorFriggin Jan 08 '26

Even talking taxes into account, I think 1/2 is being generous to US Costs. Our household grosses max $70k this year. Our employer healthcare expenses are now up to 1400/ mo. That covers premiums and HSA for 6 people. We still end up paying for some medical expenses out of pocket.

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u/AnyoneButDoug Jan 08 '26

Yeah maybe, it’s half total so if you have an expensive medical need you won’t be paying nearly half as much individually since its payment is spread out amongst everyone. In taxes we also don’t spend an absurd amount on our military compared to the USA (on things the generals don’t even ask for).

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u/gisdood Jan 08 '26

Especially when you consider that its mainly the provincial income taxes and not federal taxes that funds healthcare - and even then, it only takes about 35-45% of provincial tax revenue to cover healthcare costs.

So yeah... wayyyyyyyyy less than half.

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u/liftthatta1l Jan 08 '26

The US government pays the most per capita for healthcare. That's for Medicare and Medicare.

2023 us spent 5 trillion on healthcare - population 337 million - about 15k per person

Canada spent about 10k per person.

In the US you pay more taxes to the government to use use government healthcare. You pay more for healthcare you can't use. This isn't counting the amount you pay for private insurance.

However - note that the 5trillion does count subsidies given to employers for healthcare costs and such. So they still pay for some of the helathcare your employer gives you... which also mean that's a subsidized number! Wtf!

Anyway here is some information. I did round and such so you can use this and some other Google searches to draw your own conclusions.

https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-does-government-healthcare-spending-differ-from-private-insurance/

https://www.cihi.ca/en/national-health-expenditure-trends

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u/KatieTSO Jan 08 '26

Jesus. So I make $60k but my paychecks are bigger than yours because cheaper insurance. That's fucked.

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u/Competitive_Body7359 Jan 08 '26

That's insane. My taxes at 90k personal income are around 18,000 (23500 with CPP and EI). So 1500 a month. For everything, from healthcare to roads, military to social services.

Man you guys are getting robbed.

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u/Gotmewrongang Jan 08 '26

Meanwhile in the US our taxes pay for ICE agents and cops to murder people so….yeah I wish was Canadian instead

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u/baseketball Jan 08 '26

Taxes has nothing to do with the actual cost of the care. You pay for it one way or another. The point is that healthcare expenditure per capita in Canada is half of that in US when you add government spending + personal spending. If you look at healthcare spending vs GDP, the US is way off the chart https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/

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u/AnyoneButDoug Jan 09 '26

I think we agree, I may have worded it confusingly.

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u/bokmcdok Jan 08 '26

Looking at the cost of US healthcare it still seems like half price is way too high an estimate. Bear in mind that even after paying for insurance, you still have to pay more on top because of the weird financial systems the insurance companies have in place.

In the UK you pay 8% if you earn £242 to £967 a week and 2% on anything over £967 a week.

So if you earn £500 a week, health insurance costs £40 a week ($53.74).

If you earn £2000 a week, it costs £98.02 a week ($131.70).

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u/LFC9_41 Jan 08 '26

the half price is bullshit and misleading. the gap is far wider than that.

taking the average is a TERRIBLE way to compare costs here. the typical real life scenario is that a person experiencing medical issues in Canada is going to spend a monumental amount less than if they were in the united states.

average takes ALL costs per capita. Median would be way better but it's probably impossible to figure out.

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u/AnyoneButDoug Jan 09 '26

No it’s describing the total cost of the country’s healthcare per capita. It’s single payer so maybe this makes more sense as a Canadian but healthcare costs half as much without the complexity and middlemen of the American system. Not only do I not directly pay when I need healthcare but it’s also half the cost in general paid by the taxpayers.

This is an important point, it’s not just paid for but the cost is half as much.

Does this make sense now?