ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Health care systems

Healthcare is when you go to a doctor or a hospital to help you feel better when you are sick or hurt. But different countries and places have different ways of taking care of people's health.

Some places, like the United States, have a system where people must pay money to see a doctor or go to a hospital. This is called a "for-profit" healthcare system because doctors and hospitals are in the business of making money. Sometimes, people have insurance to help them pay for healthcare when they need it. But if they don't have insurance, they have to pay a lot of money to get treatment.

Other places, like Canada and some countries in Europe, have a different kind of system. This is called a "public" healthcare system because the government pays for people to go to the doctor or hospital when they need it. People do pay taxes to help pay for this, but they don't have to pay a lot of money out of their own pocket when they get sick or hurt.

In some countries, like the United States, people can choose which doctor or hospital they want to go to. In other places with a public healthcare system, there might be some rules about where you can go to get treatment. For example, you might have to go to a certain hospital or see a certain doctor if it's the closest one to where you live.

Overall, healthcare systems are the different ways that countries and places take care of people's health. Some places have a for-profit system where people have to pay a lot of money to get treatment, and others have a public system where the government pays for their healthcare.