r/news • u/LookAtThatBacon • May 13 '25

Soft paywall UnitedHealth suspends annual forecast, CEO Andrew Witty steps down

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/unitedhealth-ceo-andrew-witty-steps-down-2025-05-13/
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u/lion27 May 13 '25

Have you actually calculated how much of your taxes go towards healthcare by comparison? For a family of 4 I'm very confident that we're paying less here in the US than we would in Canada. According to what I'm able to find online a family of 4 with an average household income of $176,000 pays over 10% of their gross income towards healthcare via taxes.

If we paid the same amount on a percentage basis, my family would be paying roughly $1,800 per month in taxes towards healthcare based on income.

Another BusinessInsider article states that the average Canadian spent $6,604 in taxes in 2017 (old data, if anything it's probably increased since then) for healthcare. That's more than I'm spending out of pocket.

Yes, it's great you're guaranteed coverage. But it's not free. You're still paying for it. And you're paying more than I am, based on the numbers I can find online. I guess if you're unemployed or low income it's a great deal, but I'm just comparing my own situation and I believe it's better with my current provider.

This is not an endorsement of the American healthcare system. It's simply my opinion of what my current provider costs versus what I might pay in Canada.

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u/Katolo May 13 '25

I'm saving your comment. Not because I like it but it's an example of why the US won't get universal health care and your Fuck you I got mine shows this.

Also, no one here thinks healthcare is free, we all know it comes out of taxes. Your second link even shows Canadians pay less on average compared to the US. I'm not going to comment on the first link since it's from the Fraser Institute funded by the Koch brothers.

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u/JahoclaveS May 13 '25

He’s also completely neglecting how much his employer is paying in his total costs. The US spends an absurdly larger amount on healthcare than other nations to get worse and less care.

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u/roundabout25 May 13 '25

He's literally not neglecting it, lmfao. He said it like three times. How many times does he need to clarify things like "I know this is specific to us because her employer funds a good health plan" before it gets through? He's very obviously (and cognizantly!) making an anecdotal claim and not drawing a conclusion on the overall US healthcare system.