Reply #18: Depends on which model you want to follow

[Prophet 451]

Under teh British model, you'd pay around $2,000 a year, French model (which also covers dental because it doesn't have that bloody loophole) is around $3,000 and the German system, which is positively luxurious (the British and French models tend toward functional to keep costs down) would be around $4,000 a year. The money is pooled, administered by career civil servants quietly and effciently (which costs around 3% of the budget) and everyone's covered for everything from cradle to grave, even if they never paid a penny into the system for whatever reason.

Here, no-one ever declares bankruptcy due to medical costs. The family income might take a small hit while they're ill (you get statutory sick pay while you're ill but that's a bare minimum figure) but the NHS covers all the costs of the medical treatment itself.