Having seen a seizure I would definitely call an ambulance if my kid had one for the first time.
Since you picked SF let's talk about that. You may take home 80% but then you pay state income tax, sales tax, real estate taxes etc.
In SF you are more apt to be paying 40% than 20 in total.
Then your premiums for health insurance for a family. The average family pays 5,714 in premiums not including actual health care costs.
Then you have to consider the situation of those who are less fortunate. In Europe it's a slide down a slope. Here it's a drop off a cliff.
Not really, procedures and the drugs themselves are much cheaper as they are usually negotiated on a national level. Personnel salaries are also not that high. If everything is cheaper you cannot argue that the total cost is higher.
UK government with it’s well known free public healthcare and similar culture spends an excessive 38.5% (2018).
PS: Government debt has the net effect of increasing the cost of government spending over time, which somewhat underestimates these figures.
Your take home salary in the U.S. is typically 80% after tax (effective tax rate). In the EU it’s closer to 50% (or less). It’s much more expensive in the EU just not all at one time. That’s perception.
I do think we should have competition though and open pricing. Can’t decide to do something or not unless pricing is clear.
Also if you are upset about medicinal costs be upset at the medical schools. They limit the number of doctors intentionally to inflate salaries.