That the system is free at the point of use is irrelevant. If you have no insurance card or the MD has no contract with your particular insurance company (whether state owned or private) you will have problems and in latter case also bills (AFAIK it's virtually impossible to not have an insurance card), or they simply refuse to treat you. As a self-employed person I pay 14% of income for this insurance. Is it a small percentage? Maybe, but still, the insurance is not free. I agree it's a slightly better system than the direct payments for everything as in US. All I say is that the article is misleading in this regard, and that even this system will inevitably collapse.