That is a matter of debate, I don't have a good answer for you. I see the US at one extreme of saying: you are responsible for your health in all ways. In Israel it is like, we give you the option to be more healthy but we'll catch you if you fall. There are many many progressive taxation rules. Basically if you earn a lot you pay more. It is one of the most (if not the most) heavily taxed country in the world. Mostly because of arms budgets. In Israel we view the survival of every person as important because we are relatively few. I am guessing when you have 100s of millions of people this is less important for survival as a whole. Good or bad, you decide what works for you.
In American English (not sure about the rest of the world), these programs are literally known as "social safety nets", as in nets that might catch falling aerial performers. Just interesting to see the language used. It'd be nice if they were respected in America.
