wow, lots of interest in this thread.

i am aware of the american health care system and its flaws (and its few advantages) l am also aware of the NHS and other health care systems around the world. americas arrangement is universally condemned as inefficient, delivering poor care, unfair, unethical and exhorbitantly expensive. it is used as an example of what NOT to do.

of course everyone should pay for health care, and everyone does. but people pay different ammounts according to their capacity and use health services in different ammounts. any kind of health insurance, public or private, is asking other people to pay for some of your health care when you use it, and accepting that you pay for some of their care if they use it. dialysis for example is very expensive, the only way an insurer can pay for it is because they have other people with cover that are not using any health insurance.

comparing tax rates is way too simplistic. No australians pay 40% tax. our taxation system is stupidly complicated, with numerous different income brackets and rebates and exemptions and deductions. when you consider them all, income tax is about 30% max.

but we get free education up to year 12 and heavily subsidised tertiary education, and free health care for all citizens, and excellent policing and well maintained roads and infrastructure and sensible welfare for those in need and support for new industry and business and more.

these things are all provided by government. why pick on health care as the thing that people need to provide themselves? why not demand every parent pay the full cost of their kids schooling, or everyone pay for raod maintenance per kilometre they drive, or everyone pay individually for police attendance? we are a society as well as individuals, and we all benefit from things provided universally. it makes no sense to pick on health care.