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As a UK resident, I can provide examples of healthcare provision:
1. The NHS for medical issues - one emergency response following a road accident, one surgical intervention and one minor surgical intervention - all free, all high quality treatment;
2. Dental care - NHS dentistry is a mess, I have not been able to get an NHS dentist, so I go private. Spent £240 this week for routine appointment, de-scaling and (the biggie) extraction of some root fragments;
3. Eye care - I spend about £15 every two years for a bog-standard eye test, plus whatever I care to pay for spectacles.
Ultimately of course I do pay for the 'free' NHS treatment via my taxes, but at least taxation is proportionate to income. If I had to pay the full cost of medical treatment or had to have private health insurance, I believe I would be in worse health and much worse financial shape.
What really puzzles me is why there is any debate about this at all in the USA. Why should healthcare be made available *only* to people who can cough up the dosh for it? If the argument is followed to a logical conclusion, then presumably the same should be done for (say) education, clean water, refuse collection?
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