There's actually less bureaucracy involved for the patient. In Germany, you normally don't do anything at all, just let the doctor's assistants read your card, then go to the pharmacy, let them read your card and get your medicine. Sometimes you have some copay of around 5 Bucks.

From what I read, healthcare had always been super complicated and bureaucratic in the US. Nobody here knows what "network" or "deductibles" even mean.

Going to the doctor or calling an ambulance is similar to calling the police in some sense. You don't think about "network" or cost when calling the police, right? We do neither for health care related things.

Btw. getting down voted for an honest question is a bad thing in my opinion. People should talk to each other and ask questions.