In the US regarding fire it depends where you live. Some places the coverage is included in property taxes. Other places it is a separate fee, not paid directly to the government. It can be a completely separate bill, or added to utilities. When it is separate it is optional (at least that’s the way I have always experienced it) and the local fire truck will come to your house in case of a fire and watch it burn down if you opted not to pay.
My question was only about medical coverage, whether it be an accident involving a car or at your home. I don’t mind that the answers wandered a little, I’m interested in all the information, I’m just clarifying what I was getting at.
I absolutely understand Obamacare is not socialized medicine, and I didn’t have Obamacare in mind at all for this Q.
In America the hospitals and doctors raise their prices when insurance is involved, and then you get your “discounted rate” because your insured, and then you pay your deductibles and copays according to the plan. For instance, a three day stay at a hospital could easily be $40k, the actual required amount to pay would be around $4k and them if you have 80/20 coverage you pay $800. If there is a lawsuit or claim against the driver if the car who put you in the hospital they use the $40k number for the suit for the medical cost. You can see how the system raises everyone’s rates to cover this sort of thing. If you only get $40k from the car insurer, and used a lawyer to get it, you only wind up with about $20k-25K in your pocket after paying the lawyer. You can see how lawyers can make out really well in this system. If your injury has some sort of permanent effect you likely do want or need more money to care for ongoing problems, and you can argue that and hopefully be awarded more.