This is not child healthcare. That is already free in every US state. This is free babysitting.

The vast majority of the EU does not offer anything close to free universal early childhood care like this. None of Western Europe. I can think of only Latvia and Romania off the top of my head.

> This is not child healthcare. That is already free in every US state. This is free babysitting.

It's not quite free in every state, although it's closer to that than many people here probably realize.

At least until 2025 (unsure how the July budget cuts will affect this longer-term), Medicaid provides free or low-cost insurance to eligible children/families, which in theory should apply to everyone who isn't eligible for health insurance through other means. Emphasis on in theory, though - in practice, there are plenty of people who aren't covered.

It's probably more accurate to say that almost all children are eligible for healthcare coverage, and that coverage is free or low-cost for millions of people who meet various income thresholds. (People who are covered on private insurance almost always have copays or deductibles, so it's not truly free for them because there is some out-of-pocket cost).

In Berlin I enjoy exceedingly cheap daycare for my kids (80€ for 2 per month, would be lower if I didn't pay the optional extra costs), as well as generous parental leave in the year after a child is born, with salary subsidy from the state.

This is not an unusual policy situation at all in Europe, although indeed not universal.

Is it really "universal"? Bottom of the sea has subsidies for childcare for certain income threshold when both parents are working. It's pretty close to free childcare practically speaking.

> This is not child healthcare. That is already free in every US state.

Whaaat?

I have 2 kids and I can assure you healthcare is far from free unless you are low income; cutoff varies by state but it's not high -- around $80K/year household income[0], which is pretty middle-class. We're not at all wealthy, but a few years ago we started making more than threshold for our state's Medicaid/CHIP program, and we now spend >10K a year for our kids' healthcare (granted we have a child with a disability so he's the bulk of that).

[0] https://www.insurekidsnow.gov/coverage

> That is already free in every US state.

What?

read the article or even the title of the post. it's childcare.