"Best I can do is tax you like you have socialized medicine[0], then force you to pay 2 - 4 fold what those other counties private systems cost to actually get care for most of your life." - Every politician in my entire life time
Quite a few politicians suggest we take one of the various approaches the rest of the OECD countries do, as they're clearly more cost-efficient... but that gets derided as socialism.
They also never make the point that we are already paying for it. They want to tax me more, when if they were as efficient as the NHS I'd have two healthcare systems with money left over.
Medicare for all will never see the floor until everyone currently over 60 is gone, at a minimum. They are all in on it.
The US can clearly afford both, as your chart demonstrates. It shows we pay more in tax than the other OECD countries pay in total, including taxes for healthcare.
We've picked the least efficient worst-of-both-worlds scenario out of a fear of anything that sounds like socialism ("public option", "Medicare for All", etc.).
Its corruption. Explain it in the terms I have on the national debate stage, everyone is on board. NHS style healthcare AND lower taxes. You'd win every election, but you'll never see that stage.
> The US can clearly afford both, as your chart demonstrates.
The chart doesn't demonstrate anything of the sort. By definition, sovereign governments can afford literally anything, since they can print the currency within the country. It will just cause inflation.
That statement is complete and utter reductionist nonsense.
The US government is currently paying as much per capita for healthcare as socialized systems, then individuals pay again. If we can afford what we're doing now, it's obvious that we could afford a socialized system. It costs less.
The reason we don't have one is because Democratic politicians, funded by healthcare and drugs, are so willing to lie about the math for money, and the media, funded by ads for healthcare and drugs, are so willing to help them.
The fact that our current setup costs 2-3x any other OECD nation indicates reform to be more like their systems is likely to reduce costs, not increase them.
[0]https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm