The US's Medicare levy is 2.9% and 30% of the total Federal budget[1] is spent on healthcare (that doesn't include state and local spending). The US spends more taxpayer money per capita than Australia and gets much, much less to show for it.
[1] Sorry: 30% of Federal outlays are spent on healthcare, only some of that is part of the "budget"
It does. Dentistry is excluded from Medicare entirely, and with many "elective" procedures (i.e. ligament repairs, endometriosis removal, tonsillectomy) you might have to wait it pain for months until you're seen, unless you have private insurance and are willing to pay the "gap".
That doesn't mean to say that it's as bad as in the US, but it does exist.
I'd also go out on a limb and say that there are more poor people in the USA than in Australia per capita, which might factor into how many people can't afford healthcare.
Yeah, you have to wait for months in the US, too. I have no idea how this talking point got started but whoever came up with it clearly hasn't dealt with healthcare in the US. Months-long waits for non-emergency appointments have been the norm for decades.
[1] Sorry: 30% of Federal outlays are spent on healthcare, only some of that is part of the "budget"