If Europe is more expensive, why do Americans pay more for healthcare?
Based on my experiences as an American living in Europe, the premise of this is entirely wrong. At least in some cases- I&#x27;m a freelancer without kids living in Germany. For someone who is employed, older, has kids, or lives in a different country, the calculation may be different. But overall, Europe isn&#x27;t the healthcare utopia people make it out to be.<p>The cost of living in Europe is significantly lower than the US, not higher as the article suggests. Housing, food, everything. Overall I can live on much much less money than I did in the US. This may vary from city to city, but I think in many places in Europe this is true.<p>But health care is much more expensive in Europe. For me, part of this is due to being a freelancer- the public system is unaffordable for me because I would have to pay double, and pay double with my income calculated at a higher rate than I actually make. The private system is similarly expensive. It costs far more than health insurance in the US would for me. But in general, health insurance is not cheap.<p>Insurance also includes far less here than in the US. It doesn&#x27;t include even basic preventative care when you are under a certain age. It also doesn&#x27;t include stuff like birth control or STD tests. And even for things it covers, it&#x27;s difficult to get any reimbursement at all from private health insurance. I&#x27;ve also found the medical system in Germany to be atrocious when you actually go to see a doctor. If you end up in the emergency room, you can get good care. But doctors seem to just wait until it gets that bad before doing much and often spout nearly-superstitious nonsense to justify not providing medical care. Maybe they just do this to me because I&#x27;m an immigrant though- possible Germans get better care.<p>As a result, I only have cheap, crappy insurance here. It&#x27;s currently cheaper and more effective for me to have decent insurance in the US, and fly home whenever I need to go to the doctor. The US medical system under the ACA is amazing, better than nearly all Americans realize.