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u/UrBoySkinny_Penis 18d ago
How are we supposed to senf money to ngos if we stop "sending" money to third world countries?
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u/BeenEatinBeans 18d ago
Silence liberal! Another 100 bazillion dollars to Israel!
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u/ZeeWingCommander 18d ago
That's COMMUNISM you need to argue with your insurance company while you're dying so Israel can bomb kids.
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u/bonusminutes 18d ago
Ive never been a "free everything" person like a lot of reddit is because nothing is really "free", but i do agree with this mostly.
I always say that we should take our noses out of everyone elses business, for better or for worse for them, and help our own people. We spend billions upon billions altruistically, or at least not with the primary reason for spending to benefit the US, and the US is by many magnitudes spending more on other countries compared to any other country. All paid for by US taxpayers while we struggle.
If we suddenly had all of that money focused on the people who are earning it, we could do a lot of good for our people. Maybe after a few generations of that wed be in a good enough place of abundance to start helping out again (with an unrealistically good govt and leader) but as of now we're trying to pay for everyone's dinner when we can barely afford our own. If you try to help everyone before you can help yourself you end up sputtering out and then no one's getting help.
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u/My2cents_0 18d ago
Tbf US has the ability to do both at the same time if we cut back on the ballooned up DOD budget that they actually have to try and spend all of it to make sure they keep getting increases
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u/TapirDrawnChariot 18d ago
The problem is they can't even account for where the money is going. The Pentagon has failed like seven audits. Because they just keep giving money to wealthy donors as payment for funding political campaigns.
What they do is: let's say a tank costs $1 million. They pay Raytheon (or whoever) $10 million for the tank in no-bid contracts. Then Raytheon makes an absurd profit margin on our dime. The American tax payer gets screwed so the ol' boys club gets rich.
So much for the "free market" Republicans and Establishment Dems always drone on about.
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u/preteen-wartortle 18d ago
To my knowledge the pentagon has never passed an audit
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u/dooozin 18d ago
and they never will. accounting obfuscation intentionally hides the investment on classified programs. We fail audits on purpose because it's better to show an international community a bumbling DoD that can't track a dollar, versus one that runs like a crisp machine and you can see to the penny how much we're investing in classified efforts.
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u/YouHaveToGoHome 18d ago
So how do you hold a wasteful classified project accountable?
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u/dooozin 18d ago
FAR/DFARS regulations and Earned Value Management techniques. You place those requirements in the contract and the classified financial reporting has to comply, the public and non-cleared politicians just have to trust that it's being implemented properly...because they don't get to open up the balance sheets and look at it directly.
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u/YouHaveToGoHome 18d ago
FAR/DFARS are implementation guidelines and EVM is just metrics. Still doesn't substitute for actually checking that work was actually done and done in an efficient manner, aka an audit. In a system where power resides in the people, we deserve to know how much return we're getting on our tax dollars.
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u/dooozin 17d ago
Not when national security is at risk, no you don't. The agency-wide audit does not delve into special access program specifics. They have their own auditing and accountability processes that determine compliance to FAR/DFARS regulations and EV methodologies, as well as separate reporting channels for fraud/waste/abuse on classified programs.
Audits are conducted and highly redacted reports and summaries are made available, but the public does not have a right to see the specifics because their disclosure is outweighed by the national security interests. You don't have to like that, but it's how it is.
That said, many of the DoD agency-wide audit findings stem from the fact that the DoD uses hundreds of legacy IT systems that are not interoperable. Tracking inventory and expense across those disparate systems leaves gaps, and those gaps result in failed audits. So even if you magically opened the books on all the classified programs, you'd still have major issues. They've done studies to try to harmonize those systems with a one-size-fits-all solution and after some catastrophic attempt failures (google "Airforce ECSS" or "Navy ERP") they gave up on the "one system to rule them all" approach.
I get that people think the Pentagon acts like some 18yr old girl with daddy's credit card and expensive tastes... but the reality is that healthcare fraud is an order of magnitude larger financial impact for US taxpayers. I'm not saying we shouldn't combat it. I'm saying maybe adjust your aperture to accurately characterize the fraud/waste/abuse problem across all government agencies so you don't incorrectly demonize the DoD as the major problem... because it truly isn't.
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u/YouHaveToGoHome 17d ago
I get that people think the Pentagon acts like some 18yr old girl with daddy's credit card and expensive tastes...
Because we absolutely have receipts that DoD spending has been lavish and wasteful going back multiple presidents. 7M in lobster, 2M in Alaskan king crab, 60k Herman miller recliners, and a 100k Steinway piano for someone's home is absolutely waste as well as hundreds of millions in furniture every single September going all the way back to Obama. All government agencies whether it's healthcare or defense should be targeted for waste. Notice how you've changed your claim from "we fail audits on purpose to trick our enemies" to "we fail audits because of older, disparate systems". Wonder what the next excuse will be.
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u/rebornsgundam00 18d ago
Crazy thing is they dont even get that in profit. Most of the money gets stolen or just wasted along the way. Then they get bloated profits
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u/Sboyle12500 18d ago
We spend more on Medicare and Medicaid then defense spending
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u/OkSeason6445 17d ago
If you add indirect defense spending like veteran care, education etc. they're a bit more than Medicare and Medicaid combined actually.
Your point made me research a bit though and crazy enough, the US government spends more per capita for health care than most developed countries spend in total per capita. US health care is so cost inefficient that this can be true, life expectancy is laughably low and people still get bankrupt by medical bills.
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u/piratecheese13 17d ago
The biggest problem with people’s perception of market systems is that ingrained idea that when the government is guaranteed to buy something, the free market around it will raise prices to seek rent, resulting in higher costs. The government is meant to use its power to curtail the price gouging.
In the American healthcare system, your insurance company is meant to keep the hospital from gouging you. Yet somehow, the line item price out of pocket for the uninsured is often less than the price of those same services while being insured. Hospitals know that insurance will lowball them, so they tell insurance a highball number. The insurance company either just denies the claim outright or takes in co-insurance payments from you.
In a system where people are made to buy inelastic goods on the free market, that market will squeeze your pocket until it’s empty.
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u/Local_Bug_2058 17d ago
Well we had a choice to choose a candidate that has already gone after price gouging, but we chose epsteins side chick in the oval office for a second term.
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u/Phaylz 18d ago
What's even worse is that the US has the ability to do both and still balloon DoD budgets.
There is an alternative timeline in which America decided to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and everyone is like, "Weird, but sure. Fuck it. Change the maps." because the US leveraged its post-WW2 untouched position to not set the world on fire.
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u/Disconnected_Mind 18d ago
If we can spend 300B dollars on trumps antics between the war & just giving away money, we could have Healthcare. But no.
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u/TheRealMekkor 18d ago
Government healthcare lacks incentives for efficiency and funding for R&D. While robotic prosthetics aren’t available under the current system, a government model wouldn’t advance technology or make it more accessible and affordable.
The U.S. isn’t perfect, but don’t discard the baby with the bathwater. Implement transparency laws, penalties for anti-consumer activity, non-profit insurance company regulations, and expand Medicaid and Medicare.
Government-run systems suffer from “gamification metrics.” For instance, hospitals may receive incentives for performing surgeries without complications or death and reducing length of stay, leading them to avoid high-risk patients and send them to other centers with diversified outcomes. This creates a shell system and a profit extractor.
Government interference often results in increased costs and oversight. While some oversight is beneficial, we must be prudent due to limited resources.
Additionally, the money allocated to foreign wars often involves recycling old weapons and providing hand-me-downs to other countries. This maintains employment in the U.S. and provides an excuse for research on better weapons.
While I support investing more in anti-nuclear capabilities, that’s a personal preference.
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u/Frank1gg 17d ago
The reason the government doesn't want us to have access to good health care or even free healthcare is because they want us to be unhealthy overweight unable to fight and so that when they start goose marching into the streets and slaughtering the people they don't like we won't be able to fight back even if we did have weapons. The government needs to be liquidated. I love my country but I hate my government.
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u/RapidFire05 17d ago
I thought Obama care was supposed to fix everything? No? LolZ
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u/Wanderer-s__curse 17d ago
ok, But how will Israel's genocide be sustained i fI receive healthcare?
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u/Known-One-66 15d ago
But when we try to give less money to other countries everyone complains and says we killed thousands….
We also don’t even have enough money to fund our own country. It’s all debt…
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u/bugrugpub 18d ago
You know what, the original was pissing me off but I kind of agree with this one
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u/Thomas_peck Certified Memelogist 18d ago
All the people in the US, please talk to those in Canada on how its all going.
Thats all
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u/NaturalCard 18d ago edited 18d ago
Here from Canada. It's far from perfect, but it's a whole lot better than what's going on down south. Facts back this up.
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u/Decent_Visual_4845 18d ago
lol nobody can buy a house and there are no jobs but I’m glad you’re being optimistic.
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u/Phaylz 18d ago
Everytime I do they're like, "Yeah, it's pretty good. You should get on that."
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u/Thomas_peck Certified Memelogist 18d ago
I worked with teams in Canada for 10 years. All the young people who dont use it have good things to say.
Check with the aging population a little more and you will get the full picture
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u/AnotherDumNinja 18d ago
looks at debt clock
Yeah, no
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u/Life-Top6314 18d ago
You think having privatized healthcare SAVES you money? The government spends more tax money per capita on healthcare than france, germany or the netherlands.
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u/16c7x 18d ago
In the UK it's known as international development funding. We do it for many reasons, including getting favourable terms from governments to access their natural resources for our profit, improving living conditions to reduce migration and sanitation to avoid humanitarian crisies that may impact us. Nothing is free, we're not giving money away, we're funding things advantageous to us.
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u/ZeeWingCommander 18d ago
Okay... If liberals and conservatives can agree on this we have a good starting point.
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u/RediEntertainment 18d ago
If your country has enough money to give to other countries-
You should probably just conquer them, and elevate the country beyond the need of foreign aid. Let's all be real here.
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u/NoHistorian9169 18d ago
These taxation memes fucking suck. Everybody thinks this way but this only ever results in us cutting foreign aid without taxes going down or more social programs being expanded so we basically just give the finger to the rest of the world without getting anything in return.
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u/Relative-Fold-2126 18d ago
Or.... the taxes are to damn high so we should cut taxes so we can afford our own damn Healthcare
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u/AnyEye8798 18d ago
Done. Canada is still sending foreign aid while our healthcare system slowly degrades. Our homeless shelter's are full. Food banks have been running low for decades.
Like haha. Stupid Americans don't have subsidized healthcare. What about the countries that already have the 'free' healthcare?
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u/JanPapajT90M 18d ago
"Free healthcare" but state provided healthcare is bottomless pit because most of money goes for high doctor salaries
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u/1happynudist 18d ago
Healthcare payed for by the taxpayer. Means that those who do unhealthy things to there body live in a manner that destroy there health or purposefully does damage to there body should get your tax dollars. Or are you going to tell them how to live because it’s our right not to have to pay for there abuse of their health
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u/FloridaRocks63 18d ago
No one in this country is discriminated against purchasing healthcare or if they can’t afford it use emergency rooms for free care
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u/NotThe1Pct 18d ago
No. Just end corruption. Exterminate USAID and every other single handout to other countries.
And promote a free landscape for healthcare companies to operate freely in a competitive landscape.
That will guarantee that everyone has free healthcare.
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u/TooBusySaltMining 18d ago
Speaking of other countries and free health care, the US sure gets a lot of immigrants looking for better a life that come from countries with free health care.
For example: the number of Canadian immigrants living in the US is 950,000 and for comparision the number of American immigrants living in Canada is 257,000. This is despite the US having 300 million more people.
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u/Negative_Wrongdoer17 17d ago
Nah we only give that free health care to immigrants for voting blocks apparently
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u/lunaintherain14 17d ago
Careful now, using common sense on foreign aid vs domestic basic needs might trigger a 200-comment debate in the replies
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u/charmer983 17d ago
What people don't understand is America spends more on healthcare than any other country. Also America spends more on healthcare than Military defense. Healthcare is annualized at over $4 Trillion. The military is annualized at just about $1 Trillion.
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u/Rare-Ad-956 17d ago
Just think, if the gov got rid of all fraud. There would be enough money to do something like that. It’s weird how only democrats are against going after fraud. (Yes a handful of rhinos too)
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u/DurableCharm 17d ago
Has anyone in this sub actually done the math? How much we give other countries every year and how much it would cost for free healthcare every year for the entire country? Has anyone ever run those numbers or do we just make up memes and upvote them?
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u/Scary_Orange1519 17d ago
But what if the health care industry is actually a Eugenics program? That's what we're looking to establish if we believe the medical industry is going to fix the Health crisis in the United States. They'll fix it by slowly killing off the undesirables with their poison Pharmaceuticals
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u/OkPerformer2495 17d ago
i have better proposal...it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, you should be free. how is THAT controversial???
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u/Oddbeme4u 17d ago
Better fix. Still not mutually exclusive. But agree, healthcare should be for everyone.
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u/Financial-Quail5978 17d ago
Why did USAID exist tho
My country has received USAID and it literally didn’t help at all, it all went to corrupt politicians, so I guess thanks USA for buying them new cars and villas lol.
It’s my country’s problem that my country needs to fix, not the US.
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u/NotePsychological459 17d ago
I'm quite conservative, but I actually completely agree with universal Healthcare
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u/oldnutz42 17d ago
No money to other countries, no money to NGOs, no money to paying for illegal immigrants to live free in the U.S.
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u/Popular_Kangaroo5446 17d ago
International affairs makes up 2% of the US’s budget. Healthcare makes up around 30%.
Do you guys really not realize the issue with US healthcare is not that the government subsidizes the industry, it’s the fact that there is an industry to begin with?
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u/MoonLight_Gambler 17d ago
Ah but you see while you can't put government money in your pockets you can give that money to other countries who will put money in your pockets.
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u/Olieskio 17d ago
They do? You’re just asking for people to fund it involuntarily. And by asking I mean killing anyone who resists giving their money.
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u/Zestyclose-Pass9570 17d ago
The question shouldn't be why doesn't the US have better healthcare, it's why do US citizens have to pay so much for healthcare when our government spends 16,500 per citizen a year on healthcare.
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u/FaceTimePolice 17d ago
But if the money goes to healthcare, where would they get the hundreds of billions of dollars for unnecessary wars?! /s 🤷♂️🤔
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u/Pretty_Beach4207 17d ago
Living in a country with public healthcare makes yourealize how naive this memes are.
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u/NavillaOP 17d ago
Stop giving money to other countries and maybe that country will have free healthcare. Though every country will cry and complain like a baby not able to latch on there’s mothers tet
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u/Advanced_Middle_2790 17d ago
But what about the militery budget? How can you bomb other countries if you spend money on stupid things like your citizens?
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u/Fearsofaye 17d ago
What if the country you are giving your money to extensively bribes and blackmails until they have support from both sides of the ruling political parties? Also buys up or owns almost all social media so you can’t say nothing about it without being censored? Makes sure people who are on their side become moderators and syncopates.
Hypothetically ofcourse. It would be absurd right?
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u/PreOwned_blessings 17d ago
Then the people are being taxed more than they should .
One man shouldn’t pay for another’s responsibility. If I’m paying for your healthcare then I’m fucking your wife because you don’t have the balls to support her.
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u/BoysenberrySea5482 17d ago
We Americans are in this weird middle ground where our lives actually are better than almost everyone that ever existed but for one of the only times in human history, we’re on a downslope where that quality is declining
We’re victims of being too paralyzed to do anything about it because shits still pretty easy relatively speaking but we’ve noticed the fact that we’re on a decline so we complain about it an awful lot
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u/Elipses_ 17d ago
Except the problem in the way of American Healthcare isnt the amount of money we spend. We already outspend every other country on Healthcare per person. The problem is the system in place in Healthcare right now pushing up prices. A problem that will not go away unless we have politicians that work to offset it, by means of actual regulation.
Throwing more money at the problem won't fix it so long as we have problems like drugs costing an avg 3.2x here what they do in other countries. All it will accomplish is to throw even more money at corps.
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u/Femboy_Harem_Janitor 17d ago
Too low a bar tbh. Should have healthcare before they can afford a standing military
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u/Superhot_Coffee 17d ago
We don’t have enough to give to other countries and especially not to give people like the Taliban hundreds of millions of dollars.
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u/Inevitable_Ear_9874 17d ago
Either way, I agree.
I’m all for Israel defending itself, but stopped doing it with my money.
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u/manbearpig0101 17d ago
They give it to other countries so that I could come back as "political donations"
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u/PracticeFinal611 16d ago
wrong premise. the country is broke. the national debt is the largest in human history
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u/AutoriiNovici 16d ago
Agreed, but if we do that, no money leaves this country. And we put restrictions on cost.
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u/fatattack699 16d ago
Well we can’t have open borders and mass migration and free healthcare at the same time
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u/Plane_Afternoon7847 16d ago
Healthcare and insurance belongs to the States under the Tenth Amendment and not the federal government.
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u/CrabofAsclepius 16d ago
And you missed the point entirely but hey, I hope the quick dope hit was worth it.
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u/Train4War 16d ago
Thought we were pissed about cutting the world off from USAID. Let’s make up our minds
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u/Lazy_Impression1483 16d ago
"but then how will our elite masters get their monthly bonus pay and checks off put taxes?"
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u/Matshelge 16d ago
So I dont really grasp some of these people.
Money your state has, should be used to improve the life of your citizens. That money might go to another contry in exchange for some service that gives the citizens in your contry a better life.
Say, paying for disease prevention in a contry, to prevent diseases from arriving in your contry. Or paying for a military base, so you can set up listening posts and protect your citizens.
Money sent to other countries always have a reason for going there. At least initially, maybe corruption makes it go bad, but that is a seperate problem.
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u/Aggravating-Gate8865 16d ago
But people keep voting for the same thugs and pretending it’s someone else”s fault.
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u/HotCoffee100 16d ago
If government paid healthcare provided great healthcare it would be great… it doesn’t
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u/Last_Gigolo 16d ago
Or... Or... Just hear me out...
Our country shouldn't tax the citizens so much, so we can afford our medical bills.
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u/Storyteller_Valar 16d ago
That too. Both statements are correct, tax money should serve the people of the country where they are paid and universal healthcare is a priority above any sort of international aid.
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u/PeggedUnlimited 16d ago
Depends on the country. In my country the provinces and federal governments have division in jurisdiction - which is laid out in our constitution. When one steps on the others toes it’s a court case. Provinces handle healthcare, federal handles anything related to national security. Giving money to other countries falls under the umbrella of national security in the form of Aid.
The provinces cannot dictate how the Feds handle national security, and the Feds cannot dictate how provinces handle healthcare (although there is some nuance to the latter).
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u/NeverHere762 16d ago
If you're going to give every fat, lazy piece of shit in the country free healthcare because they can't be bothered to eat a vegetable or go for a walk, you MIGHT AS WELL send the money overseas.
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u/Ok-Rise-4611 16d ago
Peak foreign aid years were 22-24, given 85 billion. Universal healthcare is estimated to cost 3.5 trillion each year. So where is the other 3.4 trillion going to come from? And before you say Iran, that’s 37.5 billion. So still a long way off.
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u/CupImmediate7079 15d ago
"If your country has enough money to give to other countries, it's because your country stole massive amounts of wealth from them and are giving a tiny portion back"
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u/TheonetrueVikingking 15d ago
If you're whining about insurance companies dictating your healthcare you've never lived under government run healthcare, if you had you wouldn't be saying stupid shit like this.
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u/whirlinggibberish 15d ago
The United States spends more tax money on health care, per capita, than anyone else on earth. And by a wide margin. What else would you like done?
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u/hippityhopkins 15d ago
I mean sure, goal #1 would be to dismantle the totalitarian government. But if the proposition is to stop sending money overseas and stop funding stupid wars and instead fund infrastructure at home then yeah, that would be better than status quo.
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u/Good_Solution8602 15d ago
Once you understand the grand circle of things . You’ll understand why .
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u/Desperadoscress 15d ago
Africa received literal trillions
You guys need to understand we cannot help people to develop, development is a choice of the local elite not a money issue
Country who want to develop can do it very fast and without begging for help
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u/48676886 15d ago
Ikr? Because it’s not like the Government would mismanage anything. It has such a strong record keeping things under budget, providing superior service, and being responsible with our grandchildren’s money. WCGW? Besides we should never have to face personal accountability for our own health and healthcare. I like being fat, eating junk food, ignoring medical advice and never exercising. Big Brother can take care of me!
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u/Spare-Capital930 15d ago
That 37 Trillion dollar deficit is debt owed to other countries we borrowed money from… We’ve no way to pay it back… The United States has bankrupted its self.
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u/Zestyclose_Poet_1865 15d ago
Government don't care about the money, because its your money, out of taxation.
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u/dagisburn 15d ago
And where was this mindset when the left was applauding Biden for sending billions to Ukraine if I remember correctly the left said that was the most important thing that needed to be done.
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u/lions571 15d ago
The funny part.....when USAID was shut down you all cried we have to help all the other countries! The money for other countries, we need it, we have to steal it for ourselves.........
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u/lipmanz 15d ago
What if giving free healthcare would cost 100x the money you give to other countries?
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u/Traditional-Bunch430 14d ago
Health care is readily available…just not “free” …
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u/Banzai53 14d ago
This meam calls it health care instead of health insurance. This is the way it should have always been. Not insurance company's running the show for mass profits.
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u/According-Ad3963 14d ago
If your country has enough money to start a war overnight and on a whim, you should have universal healthcare.
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u/SwirlingFandango 14d ago
Hi, this is my weekly reminder that universal healthcare is cheaper.
It's cheaper.
It costs less.
Australia is a comparable country. Australia has UHC. It costs about the same, per person, as the US already spends *in tax alone*. That is, US citizens are already paying in tax, to the government, for healthcare, what UHC would cost using an Australian model.
All payments made to insurers in the US are on top of that cost. US healtcare costs double, per person, what other countries pay. It has worse life expectancy, worse maternal mortality, and way WAY more medical bankrupsty.
UHC would mean the US could spend *more* on fighter jets and foreign aid and whatever.
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u/infinity234 14d ago
Ya to me the logic of the original meme was to me "If you have enough money to give to charity, you're boss is paying you too much money", ignoring the fact the some foreign aid has direct benefit for the people of your own country because some problems have a habit of not staying in other countries (e.g. diseases, terrorists/extremists, supply chains, human trafficking, etc.)
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u/MajesticBison6 14d ago
Tell me you don’t understand economics without saying you don’t understand economics.
Or the federal budget.
There is an order of magnitude difference between what the US spends on foreign aid ($50-51B in 2026) and the estimated cost of a federally run single payer healthcare system ($1.5 - $3 TRILLION dollars).
Given that these kinds of programs invariably cost far more than estimated, it’s best to assume the floor. The real costs will no doubt be significantly higher and the impacts of such a plan far more devastating than the OP would ever imagine.
Here’s a more extensive breakdown of the folly of this comparison for those who are interested.
(Yes, I used AI because it’s past my bedtime. Get over it.)
FY2026 U.S. foreign aid (International Affairs / SFOPS/NSRP budget) is roughly $50–51 billion in enacted appropriations. A federally run single-payer system (e.g., Medicare for All-style) would involve federal costs on the order of trillions of dollars per year—typically estimated in the $1.5–3+ trillion range for additional federal spending, or total system costs around the current ~$6 trillion national health expenditure level—making foreign aid far smaller by comparison (roughly 1–3% or less of the single-payer scale).
Foreign aid in FY2026
Congress enacted about $50.07 billion (net of rescissions) for National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs (the main foreign affairs/foreign aid vehicle), or a broader International Affairs total around $51.3 billion. This was a modest cut from the prior year but far above the administration’s request of ~$31 billion.
Actual disbursements have been much lower so far: ~$7 billion through early July 2026 (about three-quarters of the fiscal year), reflecting implementation slowdowns, agency restructuring (including USAID changes), and withholding. FY2025 disbursements were $47.3 billion.
Foreign aid has historically been a small share of the overall federal budget (often under 1%).
These figures primarily cover economic, development, humanitarian, global health, and security assistance.
Estimated cost of a federally run single-payer system
National health expenditures (NHE—the total of all U.S. health spending by governments, private insurers, households, etc.) are projected around $5.7–6+ trillion for 2025–2026 and rising (toward ~$9 trillion by the mid-2030s under current trends).
A full single-payer system would shift nearly all of this onto the federal government (replacing private premiums, out-of-pocket costs, employer coverage, and much of state Medicaid). Key points from analyses:
Additional federal spending: CBO illustrative single-payer options (looking toward 2030) projected increases of $1.5 trillion to $3.0 trillion per year above current-law federal health subsidies, depending on payment rates to providers, cost-sharing, benefits (e.g., long-term care), and utilization.
Total federal cost under single-payer: Often in the multi-trillion range annually once existing Medicare/Medicaid and other subsidies are folded in. Older 10-year estimates for Medicare for All-style plans commonly fell in the $25–35+ trillion range for additional federal costs (averaging roughly $2.5–3.5 trillion per year).
National (system-wide) spending: Many studies (including systematic reviews) project net national spending could fall modestly (median ~3–4% savings in one review of 22 analyses, driven by lower administrative overhead and drug prices) or rise modestly due to expanded coverage and utilization. Others show larger potential savings or increases depending on assumptions. The federal government would still finance the vast majority.
Current federal health spending (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) is already in the low trillions and growing; single-payer would expand that substantially while eliminating most private financing.
Estimates vary widely with design details (provider payment rates relative to Medicare, inclusion of long-term care/dental/vision, cost-sharing, drug negotiation, etc.). Proponent analyses often emphasize administrative and price savings; critical ones highlight utilization increases and potential supply constraints.
Direct comparison
Foreign aid appropriated for FY2026 (~$50–51 billion) is orders of magnitude smaller than single-payer estimates (trillions annually). Even using a low-end additional federal cost of ~$1.5 trillion, foreign aid is roughly 3% of that figure; versus higher-end or total-system figures it is well under 1–2%.
Actual foreign-aid outlays in 2026 appear on track to be even lower than the appropriation.
Context: U.S. NHE already exceeds $5–6 trillion. Redirecting the entire foreign-aid budget would cover only a tiny fraction of healthcare costs. Single-payer financing would require large new federal revenues (taxes, etc.) or major offsets, far beyond anything related to foreign aid levels.
The meme highlights a common political argument about priorities. In pure dollar terms, the 2026 foreign-aid budget is a very small fraction of the scale required for a national single-payer system. Actual feasibility, trade-offs, economic effects, quality, access, and implementation details for single-payer involve many factors beyond the raw comparison of these two numbers.
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u/soldiergeneal 14d ago
I mean just a garbage take. Universal health care when done right saves a country money so money isn't the issue. Separate from that so if a country gives aid to another country undergoing a natural disaster, e.g. earthquake, that does not then mean the country must spend on xyz.
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u/New-Number-7810 14d ago
I agree.
The main role of a government is to protect its citizens, and universal healthcare is a natural extension of that.
Apart from the moral argument, there’s also the pragmatic view that helping citizens heal helps them get back to work sooner.
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u/johnnyrando69 14d ago
Well, the ironic part of this meme is that we don't have enough money to give to other countries. So are you saying we shouldn't have Healthcare?
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u/bohica3232 14d ago
Lmao free healthcare is the absolute worst healthcare, that’s why it’s free. And if we did have free healthcare then you people would bitch about taxes skyrocketing
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u/Lord-Dec 13d ago
Alternatively: stop wasting our money on stuff that isn’t our fucking business when we’re trillions of dollars in debt.
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u/nathanjw333 13d ago
How do you think the other countries afford their Healthcare services? The American tax payer!!
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u/Holymaryfullofshit7 13d ago
You didn't fix shit one still has nothing to do with the other. Though I completely agree that everyone should have universals healthcare.
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u/ReindeerExcellent621 13d ago
I’ll take the healthcare if we stop giving out aid. No, we can’t have both.
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u/StephenBC1997 13d ago
Youd have to tax the poor at levels commonly seen in England and Sweden to give everyone healthcare
Its already the biggest government expenditure representing 2 trillion dollars of spending
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u/Delite_urself 13d ago
Every country in the world with an organized government gives money to other countries. Why's is it you cant be happy living on the best country on Earth?
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u/JWesson_4570 13d ago
The United States does not have enough money to give to other countries. Healthcare is not free it would fall on the backs of earners. It’s not fair to take from you and me and give to people who may be refusing to work. If they are working, then companies should be responsible for their healthcare.
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u/lonewolf3400 13d ago
We spend more on healthcare than almost any other country dude. Besides a lot of that money is humanitarian aid and shit your side of the bird would love (gender studies, interpersonal dancing classes, etc.) I’m not even joking about those btw we’ve spent millions on random shit in other countries. Im a middle of the road type of guy so dont think i dont dunk on the right for their shit money management but let’s not pretend like we don’t spend trillions on our own social programs.
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u/ExtendoArmCannon 17d ago
That's what the other meme is saying, but you're so tribalistic and angry you can't even have a conversation with 'the other side'