I mean, rationally you would expect the opposite: people typically don't do $10k+ transactions using credit cards, so a worst case consequence of fraud you're not protected from is quite small.
But for medical emergencies, the worst case cost is orders of magnitude larger, so a system that protects everyone (financially) is much more beneficial.
Not in my experience. I probably have 10 to 15 credit cards for over a decade, and only once have I had a fraudulent transaction. And even if there was, you simply call the bank, dispute it, and that’s the end of that. Same with recurring charges.
It is even less of a problem going forward since EMV and contactless have become standard.
I'm not sure what you mean by "happens once every couple of years for most people."
I’m pretty sure it’s gas stations and airport merchants. But it could be hacked online stores.
Amex is good at catching it.
Pnc bank on the other hand wad bad. My work card got used shorty after flying from sfo and PNC bank let them ring up 2,000 of hotel fees and didn’t flag any of it, and due to how the work cards work I didn’t find out until a month or more later
Probably not, and almost definitely not at the small retailer. Amex charges are more for the retailer, so they often simply don't accept it.
Other than that, though: I'm not sure how often you even need that $1000 'no questions asked' policy. Second, return policies through the EU market (plus at least one country) are pretty good without credit card protections. It just really isn't a big concern. Finally, the culture around returning goods differs in different areas. Folks here (Norway) seem way less disposed to returning items - especially for simply not liking an item and would rather do some research upfront. (Not working as desired, defective, and things like that are a bit different, but folks still hesitate).
So you don't try to return the item for a refund first?
Anyway Americans pay pretty high taxes, they're comparable to Europe (albeit not as high as crazy countries like Italy, Spain or France, I have no idea how those countries can even survive). I'm sure they'd be more than happy if the government were spending less and letting them to pay less taxes and buy a private insurance instead.
The problem with the US healthcare and higher education is not being private, it's being too expensive - tldr thanks to government intervention some actors got away with massively raising prices with no competition
