But most people in most western countries tend to be insured by default through some national system if they have a legal job, or, if their system is private like in the US, then heath insurance is mandatory for everyone, unlike in the US.
US is kind of a "wild west" where people can live and work, sometimes illegally, and not be insured if they don't want to. Weird system.
Non - sequitour. You can travel to Europe (not to a third world country mind you), get your treatment without insurance, pay in full, and fly back and still spend much much less, including cosmetic procedures and dental.
And of course when you earn US wages you can afford to get private care in Europe out of pocket given how lower wages in Europe are in comparison to US, which is why plenty of locals like low income people and pensioners can't afford private healthcare.
False equivalence fallacy. As those locals have free access to public healthcare which is not only cheap but also actually on par with US healthcare standars if not higher in certain places.
> when you earn US wages you can afford to get private care
You're implying private care is expensive, sure, but what 99.99% of people do in Europe is get private /insurance/, in spain it's only 150% the cost of the public insurance, and by law they cannot offer less coverage than the public insurance, also no surprise charges, enforced by law as well.
Source for the 99,99% claim?