Trip to the ER (or A&E as it's called here) no. 1: New Year's Eve 2012, struck down by the norovirus that was all over the UK that winter. Received excellent care even at my very busy local London hospital. Hospital bill: zero. Trip to the ER no. 2: summer 2013, a visit to my parents in Boston, severe gastroenteritis the day after I arrived. Received so-so care, a lot of unnecessary tests. Hospital bill: $7,000, which I spent the next two years fighting, eventually with the aid of legal representation. Did my excellent care in the London hospital come out of the slightly higher taxes I pay here in the UK? Yes. As do roadworks and other infrastructure improvements, firefighters, policing...I have no problem with this and I have no idea how any rational person, desirous of living in a civilized society, could.