US healthcare always cost more than other countries, but the difference was much smaller in the past. In the mid-70's it began to diverge sharply, with costs in the US growing much faster than the rest of the world, with no corresponding divergence in measures of health. (see here) This implies the driving factor is not cost or health, but pricing power.
There is no doubt other countries with lower health care to GDP rations have much greater price regulation, and health care providers have lower incomes relative to the average.
There is no doubt other countries with lower health care to GDP rations have much greater price regulation, and health care providers have lower incomes relative to the average.
I agree, and am leery of any suggestion of a "solution" at all. Health care covers 17% of our GDP and employs more than 13% of the total work force. Change is a Herculean task.But because it is more complicated now, we have the dilemma we now have to solve. Namely, how to pay for all this complication.
I am just leery of people who have a "simple" solution to this complex problem. And reading about how other nations deal with it has opened my eyes.