It was definitely not meant to be mean-spirited. A rising tide should lift us all. Selfishly, I imagine the good a few hundred million people could do for the rest of the world if suddenly freed from these sort of unnecessary financial and social hardships.

Unless you’re filthy rich enough not to care about premiums and have millions invested in health insurance. Then you can pay your media outlets to manufacture rugged individualism and paint any common-good policy with the broad brush of communism.

Last year I went in for an organ removal: $0.

The hospital bill for my child’s birth: $0.

Regular quarterly family doctor visits for routine monitoring: $0.

The comments from Americans who move abroad to other countries and experience the healthcare of other developed nations is eye-opening. I truly hope people find the means to demand a better base level of care and join the rest of the modern world.

Now imagine if instead of paying a private corporation for the privilege of a deductible against a maximum coverage amount you instead paid a bit more income tax in exchange for free healthcare no matter how many times you needed it.

Based on other countries’ models the tax difference would have been less than $6k in all but the highest income brackets.