U.S. democratic socialists look to Europe as their utopia. So, when someone mentions the greater wealth of U.S. citizens, as I did recently, socialists across the world regurgitate the mantra that Europe is morally superior because it has free healthcare and college education. Yes, it has free healthcare, but is that the whole truth?
Healthcare is a scarce resource that must be rationed. So if the state provides free healthcare, it must ration it in some manner. It's impossible to provide all the healthcare everyone wants when they want it. So, those socialist countries offering free healthcare ration it by long wait times and denial of services. In the U.S., people rage against insurance companies for denying services, but they are happy for the government to deny them.
Many people in Europe die while waiting for critical medical treatment. In the U.K., 120,000 die annually while waiting according to one report. In another, the figure is between 121,000 and 340,000. In France, 31 patients died last month in emergency units for not receiving treatment in time. "...France’s renowned system is grappling with one crisis after another, each seemingly more severe than the previous one.... More than a third of the population (37%) considers that they live in a medical desert." France and Germany don't report deaths due to long wait times for medical care, but the figures are likely similar to those in the U.K. or Canada where 15,474 patients died in 2023-24 before receiving surgeries or diagnostic scans.
In Germany, "The percentage of Germans who trust that healthcare policy will ensure quality and affordable care has fallen from 70 to 40 percent. Forty percent of citizens indicate that on-site supply has deteriorated in 2022."
All major European countries report critical doctor shortages and burnout:
"December saw a closure of scores of doctors' practices across Germany, as many went on strike to protest worsening working conditions. But it's not just German doctors who are angry; Slovenian and Portuguese doctors have also walked off the job. In Italy, doctors and nurses protested in December. And in January, British junior doctors began their longest industrial action in the history of the UK's National Health Service (NHS)."
According to one study, "Germany’s healthcare system is in trouble, with higher contributions, increased waiting times, and more violence, and it is not the only developed country experiencing a crisis. While in 2021 only one in ten Germans was dissatisfied with the healthcare system, this figure has now increased to 30 percent, and to 47 percent among those with health problems...."
As for Sweden, the utopia for U.S. democrat socialists, "According to a 2025 survey, 68 percent of individuals indicated a lack of staff was the biggest problem facing the Swedish healthcare system. Access to treatment or long waiting times were also considered to be pressing issues."
One newspaper reported on the crisis in Swedish healthcare,
"The situation is further complicated by a shortage of nurses and available doctors, particularly in certain regions of the country. This scarcity of medical professionals strains the system, leading to delays and hindering timely access to care for many patients. Swedish law mandates that patients should undergo surgery or see a specialist within 90 days, but government data reveals that a third of patients exceed this waiting period. The stipulated timeframe for seeing a general practitioner is seven days, the second-longest in Europe, but this benchmark is often unmet, with significant variations across the country's 21 counties responsible for healthcare financing."
The Sweden Herald reported that, "When the Swedish Work Environment Authority carried out inspections, three out of four workplaces in the healthcare sector were found to be defective. The worst was in the emergency hospitals. 'The shortcomings are well known, but the problems are allowed to continue year after year,' writes Lars Lööw, Director General of the Swedish Work Environment Authority..."
The Nordic Times wrote, "In August, waiting lists for healthcare were the longest since records began. A record number of people have been waiting longer for a procedure or operation than promised by the Healthcare Guarantee. In August this year, 89,435 people waited more than 90 days for treatment."
Long wait times are bad enough, but European countries also deny medical treatments. About 1.9 million people visit the U.S. annually for medical care. It's estimated that 15% to 20% of those are from Europe seeking treatment they can't get at home.
These are a sample of articles on problems with European healthcare. Readers can do their own research in ChatGPT, Copilot or other AI software by simply asking about the healthcare crisis in your favorite country.
I don't emphasize the problems in Europe to recommend the U.S. system, which has many of the same problems. The U.S. also rations medical treatment through wait times and denial of services but with high prices. Prices are high and rising because the federal government limits the supply of doctors while creating unlimited demand through Medicare and Medicaid.
My point is that as bad as high prices are in the U.S., Europeans can't point to their free healthcare to counter the greater wealth of the average American. Their healthcare is no better than ours, though no worse. Ours is more expensive, but we're richer and can afford it for the most part. Also, we provide free healthcare through Medicare, Medicaid, and Indian Health Services while hospitals have reserves for people who can't pay.
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