Utopia Down Under

A point of perspective: Back home, in the US, we're considering rolling back the healthcare reform bill. It doesn't even get us universal healthcare - it just gets us slightly better chances (not 100%) that we might receive healthcare if we've paid the insurance for it.

The Australian Deal

Australia and US dollars trade at about 1:1 with minor variation. When I transferred $200 Australian here I paid? $197 US.

In Australia, here's what every citizen gets - not just their government - everyone:

• Healthcare. It's largely free. You get sick the government pays for the care.
• $14.73/hr minimum wage - nearly double the highest state minimum wage in the US, almost triple the lowest (if you're paid hourly rather than full-time, you make more - $15.51/hr).
• Minimum 4 weeks vacation/year.
• A retirement pension, even if you never saved any money. Retirement/"Age Pension"
• If you're unemployed you make $15761.20/year or about $7.58/hr, forever. If you never find another job, you still receive a living wage - enough to cover rent in a suburb (but almost certainly not in a city, where a studio runs $1800/mo). Unemployment/"Newstart" Rent Assistance 

There are details to these where you might get paid more or less based on whether you need more (kids, single parent, renting) or less (live with your parents, ~$5/hr), but the numbers don't vary that much.

So just to be clear, if you lose your job in Australia, you'll be fine. If you come down with cancer at 21 before you ever wondered "What healthcare provider should I have?" you're covered. And if you never really make it big - enough to really save up - in retirement... you'll be fine.

Well Then It's a Disaster

So the assumption by the kind of person that votes for the kind of person that prevents the US from having any of this is, "Then the entire economy must be in tatters." Well let's check.

Unemployment. Economists say the ideal unemployment rate is 5%, meaning 95% of those wanting to work have jobs and the other 5% are available to employers needing workers. In Australia it's 5.3%. In the US it's 9%; in some parts of the US it's 15% and in some counties it's over 30%.

Non-Employment. Economists abuse the word "unemployment" to only mean people looking for work, when intuitively it means "does not have a job." They use other names for that, so what's that number? In Australia 49% of the population does not work. Those lazy bastards, much lazier than the 54% who don't work in the US.

Taxes. Well then taxes would have to be insane, right? Australia tax brackets - as a point of summary, an Australian making $80,000/year pays 22% of their total income, or $17550, in taxes. A Californian making the same pays Payroll tax (Social Security and Medicare), Income Tax, Unemployment Insurance, and State Income Tax, totaling 49% - a calculation so complicated it merits its own spreadsheet. Note that the Californian still has to pay for their healthcare after all that.

I'll update this with a bit more info and some conclusions later on. But seriously America... get your sh** together.

Updates

To compare with the US spreadsheet for $80k, I've created another that shows several income levels under the Australia tax regime. Both spreadsheets assume you rent an apartment, live alone, and have no kids, because I'm self-centered. The resources to build out a version for married with a mortgage and 3 kids are linked from this post and the spreadsheets, so if you build one, please share.

Australians point out to me that healthcare in Australia has 2 major caveats:

• There is essentially a $500 annual deductible. That is, the first $1000 worth of care in a year you pay 50%; the remainder is on the government. However, there is a debate in which they are considering eliminating this deductible.
• Many Australians fret at the long waits for doctor's appointments and go to pricier doctors instead. When they do, they exceed the limits the government will reimburse. When that occurs, the government kicks in the maximum and you pay the rest. Often these private doctors charge about double. So there is an inconvenience to free care, and occasionally an undue lack of urgency. On the other hand, these private visits are often so expensive in part because they're lavish - they involve spa treatments etc.

I need to include a comparison to MY healthcare's caveats. I called my healthcare plan and this is literally what they told me - I'm not exaggerating what they said or misreading my plan. This is the plan I pay for with Anthem Blue Cross:

• If I have a heart attack, it's my job (yes, struggling in the hospital) to gather up the relevant paperwork and submit it to them as a claim.
• If it occurs overseas, not only is it my job to do that, but also to cover the full costs of coverage myself in the meantime, and they will optionally reimburse me for what they deem as covered.

Australians have to worry about a $500 deductible that may be legislated away. I have to worry about owing $500,000, how to gather what paperwork to send to who, what lawyer to sue my healthcare company with to recoup my costs, and whether I'll live long enough to see the court case through.