On average, Americans pay about $11,000 annually for health care. That’s more than double the amount paid in France, widely considered to have one of the best health care systems in the world. This means that every year, a family of four pays about $23,000 more for health care than the same family in France.
Much of this cost is hidden in the form of Medicare taxes and payments by corporations for private health insurance. In the end, though, it all comes out of the paychecks of working Americans. It’s a hell of a tax to pay just for the privilege of being able to say that we allow health care providers to charge anything they want without government interference.
