I'm curious who you think is actually out there laboring under the assumption that healthcare becomes absolutely, and literally, free?

The more correct term for universal healthcare rather than free should be cheaper as everyone with such systems wind up spending much less on healthcare than the USA. We basically spend as much per capita on our public system than other countries do on healthcare overall, and then we also have a private system that is even more costly.

America spends the highest amount per capita & the most in total terms by a large margin and they aren't able to cover 100% of their citizens.

Nobody thinks that healthcare is magically free in the rest of the world, but at least in countries with socialised medicine people pay into a system that covers everyone in society.

You pay with your taxes. Is that this hard to understand?

In France when my boss give me 1 euros, he has to give 0.33 cents to a found that goes toward my healthcare. Then most things are « free ». From regular doc appointments to oncologists.

Here I pay 500$/month, and then some co-pay and then some more.

It’s not that different.

I’ve never seen anyone argue that. Well, until now anyway.

Agreed