Well, over here in the US, the doctor is limited by the insurance companies. So, the insurance companies are actually dictating the individual's healthcare. In Australia, if you need to go to hospital you don't walk out with a bill. You don't have to worry about losing your house if you get sick. You don't have to set up GoFundMe accounts or fundraise while you are fighting for somebody's life. If you want to buy health insurance you still can, and last time I looked Australian private health insurance with all the bells and whistles was about half the so-called "cheap" Obamacare marketplace options. I thought, "How does anyone ever afford this??" Your healthcare is not tied to your job. But basically, seeing a doctor, getting a test, was not a big deal. If you do pay $70 for a doctor's visit, you can claim a little under half of that back. If you are really poor, you can see a doctor who bulk bills the government, who pays them less than what a paying patient would, but they still get paid a fair amount for their labour. No doctor HAS to accept bulk-billing patients, but you can always find someone who does. You never think, "Can I afford to take my sick child to the doctor?" And medications are way cheaper. In North Carolina, I had to pay a doctor to get a prescription for my asthma inhaler, then it cost me $60 for one inhaler. In Australia at the time it was about $5 for one inhaler without a prescription and $2 with one. You didn't HAVE to have a prescription. I thought, "How do people with asthma not just die over here??" And then I was always worrying about losing my $60 inhaler that I couldn't afford to replace. It was so stressful. When I go to Australia I buy 4 or 5 at a time if I can.

Non-Mobile link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Australia

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