For those of you who still want government run “free” healthcare, you should hold your powder dry on that decision until you learn a few facts about what “free” means.

I read a great piece by Nolan Finley in the Detroit News over the weekend that compared the taxes we pay in the United States to the taxes paid in the European Union and countries that have “free” healthcare.

According to the Peterson Foundation and the article:

In the U.S., 90 percent of earners pay a real tax rate, income and payroll taxes combined of below 20.3 percent, according to the Peterson Foundation. The average real tax rate in the European Union is 45 percent.

The United States has for a very long time attempted to shift the tax burden from the many to the few, essentially allowing people who make less money to pay a far less share of their income in taxes.  Many who are asking for “free” government healthcare take advantage of the lower tax rates and I can only assume supports paying a lower tax rate.  Well if you want “free” healthcare that advantage will most likely diminish over the years.

Let’s look at Belgium as an example.  According to Pew Research:

A married couple, one working at the average wage and one at two-thirds of it, with two kids bears a total tax burden of 38.3 percent.  For a similar American family, the real rate is about half that, at 19.4 percent.

Remember nothing is “free” in life and people who want the government to take over such a large entitlement program must be aware in advance that the “rich” cannot pay for this alone.  That means all of us will have to pay more taxes to receive our “free” healthcare.
