Quote:
Originally Posted by NC_Skins
We don't face any more different problems than those of Canada or any other socialized health care country. Guess what? They pay a mere fraction of what we do. We spend more than 2-1/2 times what the average is.
Health Costs: How the U.S. Compares With Other Countries | PBS NewsHour
However, when you rank the systems, we don't come out on top. IN fact, when compared to the other socialized healthcare countries, we ranked dead last.
Forbes Welcome |
All true. Many many reasons for our higher costs, the biggest being that we have higher salary structures here in the US than in most developed nations. Lots of others too, some of which stem from our goofy third party reimbursement system.
But... So what? Are you suggesting that if we went to a single payer system we would bring costs down to the same levels as Canada? Because if that's what you're saying then you're grossly oversimplifying. That could reduce the costs attributable to administrative roles in healthcare, that's about it.
We have higher rates of obesity here than in any other nation, so we end up with more heart problems and more diabetes than does Canada and Japan. That care will need to be provided, regardless of payer system. We're always going to be more expensive because of our diet and culture. As long as we remain a nation of fatties we will have higher healthcare costs.