I’m from (Scotland) but I would read about insurance and employer healthcare and be really confused, since up here everything (prescriptions, glasses, teeth) is free and there’s no insurance.

I'm in England, and I know there is a difference, but I highly doubt private insurers haven't made it up your way, and are slowly carving the NHS hollow from within just like they are down here (a very superficial look confirms that hundreds of millions are already being spent on private firms carrying out NHS Scotland work).

People get denied NHS treatment all the time, if not directly (and yes, some directly, like trans people, but also disabled people with long term and complex cases, which I know from personal experience), then via cuts and waiting times.

Sure, we have it better than the yanks, and you up north have it better than us down south, but please lets not pretend our NHS is in good shape (or hands, Starmer has made it clear that he is for more privatisation), providing prompt and accessible healthcare, or not going the exact same way the US healthcare system is (often being bought up by the very same companies).

The last thing we need is to be getting complacent.

That sounds nice and simple! I don't 100% understand the German system either, I just know that it costs about 15% of my income each month (half is paid by my employer), and if my doctor writes a prescription on a pink sheet of paper, the meds don't cost me more than like 5-10€ (apparently it's some sort of co-pay thing).

We also have a system for private health insurance, because people employed by the government aren't allowed to benefit from the government-subsidized health insurances. But I'm not earning enough to know specifics about it haha

I’m English, I’m jealous of the eyes and teeth thing.

Scotland seems almost utopian.