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Okay, I live in France, the quintessential socialized health-care system. The wait at hospitals is short, I can choose my doctor as I please, and an appointment costs me all of 23 euro. I have nothing against the health insurance being government-run, which does not entail that the whole system is government run. Most GPs, for instance, are independent.

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Adding to my previous comment: the French health "insurance" is a bit of a misnomer. It is as much an insurance as a wealth redistribution mechanism, and the "premiums" are not a function of your health risks but of your income, i.e. it is effectively a tax. If you believe that health-care should be granted at the same level regardless of material status, it makes sense.

In other words, the French health "insurance" is meant to at most break even, or run a deficit (which it does).

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