A lot of people are on employer-paid insurance which largely hides the costs. You'll often get an "oh, I only pay $20 in premiums monthly" sort of response from them.

$10k in premiums going away with taxes going up $5k is heavily portrayed as a "tax hike" when universal healthcare is discussed.

> $10k in premiums going away with taxes going up $5k is heavily portrayed as a "tax hike" when universal healthcare is discussed.

^^^

This. This is somehow one of the most disingenuous things brought up during every discussion.

I think some people do it deliberately, and others are just not thinking very clearly when considering it at all.

"Death panels" was another one. We wouldn't want govt officials being able to say 'no' to some particular treatment, dooming someone to death. We're totally fine with unelected corp overlords with shareholder value as a primary concern making those sorts of treatment decisions. Of course. What could be simpler?

I'm convinced probably 2/3rds of the people against 'single payer' health insurance (or some variation of universal health insurance) are simply scared in to submission by misrepresentations. What also gets overlooked is having one system could mean you get health insurance whether you are employed or not. Everyone goes through spells of unemployment. Trying to tie health care decisions to coincide with periods where you can get "good" insurance through a "good" employer is unbelievably insane, but we've had generations of people brought up like this, and many believe it's truly the 'best' way.

Is it? In Germany, a double income household can also pay about 2100 EUR per month for public health insurance (if both partners earn at least 85k). Many people have additional insurances for dental and possibly other things that are not covered.