Quote Originally Posted by flowerseverywhere View Post
So I guess the question is how would Americans feel about having a substantial raise in taxes to fund a system like this? From the link spartana provided there also is an amount you pay each year when you access care. So it sounds like we are talking close to a 50% tax rate! give or take. So emergency care is assumed to be covered. Then people that want it pay for private insurance. This is a very different system than what we are used to.

Of course, with the ACA I would be very surprised if our taxes don't rise. Expanded medicaid and subsidies have to come from somewhere. It is just a big shift in thinking. I have a hard time believing Americans would swallow a 40 or 50 % tax rate. What do you think?
Your post has really made me think. I myself would be willing to pay 50% more in taxes easily - but the kicker with me is on my income my taxes are quite low so 50% more to me is not that big a deal. It would mean fewer books and/or fewer secondhand clothes. Not all that big a sacrifice. However, OTOH, those who have somehow managed to maintain what would be considered a middle class income - for those people a 50% hike would be a much bigger deal and I'm afraid to say would have economic consequences - less consumer spending which comprises around 2/3 of the economy in the US. Less consumer spending means more layoffs and fewer jobs, up and down the income spectrum. So the answer - I don't know.

Advice I can give is this - if at all possible, have some liquid money saved in case you get sick for transportation costs and health care costs in another country with reasonable medical costs. I read this advice online on another forum and I couldn't agree more with this. I am even starting to think of having this readily available cash to run to another country for reasonably priced health care as a cost of holding US citizenship.....I also think a by product of higher co pays and deductibles under ObamaCare plans is going to be more medical tourism, and if anyone considers the above advice out there at all - I'm thinking in another five to ten years it will be standard everyday advice given to all. Pretty sad is my opinion. Rob