Perhaps an unlikely place to see where the US healthcare system is headed is Italy. One of the reasons for high taxes and large debt levels in Italy is a government sponsored healthcare system that costs more than originally planned. The result of the high tax rates paying for healthcare is that in Italy, there is a two tiered healthcare system, much like that of the UK and what many think will eventually emerge in the US. Wealthy Italians go to a private pay doctor who charges more than the government set rate and the patient pays the difference.