Where you see higher taxes it means you get something for free. Typically it's healthcare and/or education. With comparable living standards the spending per person is roughly the same, the question is who is paying and how.
I.e. higher taxes = no need for medical insurance; lower taxes = you should include private insurance in your overall calculations.
I'd say the spending per person might be higher in the US due to private medical insurance, i.e. you have a middleman who works for profit. In more social states there's no middleman and healthcare is cheaper, regardless of how it's paid for.
I understand the sentiment as I recently had norovirus and got stuck waiting forever to get into a clinic.
That said, if you get into a car accident and are taken to the ER with serious injuries, you will not wait. You will be patched up with some of the best quality care in the world and leave without paying a dime.
Our system isn't perfect but I'd take it over any system where someone can be financially ruined due to an accident, or worse yet have to take shortcuts that jeapardize their health to try and avoid this.
I pay less tax in Switzerland, including health insurance (which is paid privately, not via taxes or by employer), than I did in the UK, and get much better service.
(Conversely I pay more for a bank account and get worse service. But it's negligible compared to taxes of course.)
I.e. higher taxes = no need for medical insurance; lower taxes = you should include private insurance in your overall calculations.
I'd say the spending per person might be higher in the US due to private medical insurance, i.e. you have a middleman who works for profit. In more social states there's no middleman and healthcare is cheaper, regardless of how it's paid for.