This is widely understood to mean "free to the patient at time of use/need". Stop being deliberately obtuse.
“Free healthcare” is an obvious political term used by people who are in favor of tax funded healthcare. FWIW I come from Sweden where we do have “free healthcare”, and it’s usually referred to as skattefinansierad, which means tax funded…
This is called insurance, sometimes provided by society sometimes by business or a mix of both, but never is it "free".