Health Care Spending: U.S. vs. Abroad
March 2010
Health Care Spending: U.S. vs. Abroad
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Reader Comments (18)

Posted by: Lou Woods at 03/27/2010 12:13:31 PM

Amazing, Looks like we could take some lessons from Germany!...

Posted by: N B at 03/27/2010 01:11:23 PM

Stop using 3D graphs for 2D data please.

Posted by: forever at 03/27/2010 09:01:37 PM

In my opinion the increased US spending on healthcare is a consequence of increased tendency to sue present in the US to make easy money. It is because of this that doctors in US practice more defensive medicine trying to cover their backs compared to the European countries. This results in a visious cycle that ultimately leads to increased spending. Any healthcare reform will be unsuccessful until and unless this cycle is broken. On good way is to put a limit on the ability to sue or the amount that one can sue for. But with lawyers being at the helm and top positions this is unlikely to happen.

Posted by: Mimi at 03/28/2010 12:40:24 AM

Life expectancy is a poor way to compare systems - it is impacted by factors such as crime, accidents, and lifestyle choices that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of a country's health care system. Homocides and car accidents have a significant impact on the US' life expectancy, but they do not reflect the quality of health care in America. A better way comparison is cancer survival rates or other medical factors that DO actually depend on health care. Cancer survival rates in the US as well as France and Japan are the highest in the world. As for high health care costs - costs are inflated in the US and need to be reduced, but also keep in mind that studies have shown that countries that spend more on health care have better cancer survival rates. Health care is just like everything else: you get what you pay for.

Posted by: Jeremy at 03/28/2010 01:15:50 AM

You know why we spend so much already? One word, socialism. Before Barack became our dictator, George W Bush pretty much had everything under control. Healthcare was free only to illegal immigrants and my grandma was able to get her hip surgery without going bankrupt. Now, jesus, if I just look into an emergency room Nancy Pelosi and Harold Reid make the stock market go down.

Posted by: bob at 03/28/2010 08:49:39 AM

This is pointless. It doesnt state who is spending it, be it government or citizen spending. The whole graphic is useless without this. Are we comparing out of pocket expenses for the USA vs out of pocket expenses for other countries with nationalized healthcare?

Posted by: Ron at 03/29/2010 09:55:00 AM

There's a lot I'd probably agree with Jeremy on... but, if you look at the graph, they imply that these are 2007 numbers. Also ,to say that George W. Bush "had things under control" would be silliness. I agree that he's better than Obama. But, Bush and the Republicans did nothing to curb the conditions that allowed people to think Obama was a better choice.

Posted by: Gary Ward at 03/29/2010 10:37:09 AM

Much of the cost in the U. S. is our battery of...lawyers ready to sue for anything that will get them a fee that have driven the cost of doctor's and medical instutution's insurance costs out of sight. Losers should pay.

Posted by: j at 03/29/2010 11:19:03 AM

this is misleading. you have got to tell people what the criteria is for life expectancy! the criteria for cost, etc. i know it sounds absurd to ask for these to be put up there, but it is only telling part of the truth. for instance, "live" birth here is lower than cuba, but that is b/c they will abort a fetus up til the day it is born, even if it can live outside of the womb on it own. so please, put in the criteria for each of these graphs!

Posted by: Owen at 03/29/2010 01:03:28 PM

Life expectancy is a fraud. Some of the countries on the list do not include premature babies (we do), some do not include infant deaths for the first 3 months to a year! Talk about a skewed set of numbers. Try comparing apples to apples instead of apples to martians.

Posted by: Lynn at 03/29/2010 01:52:50 PM

One thing that isn't mentioned here - the US life expectancy is on par with France once you factor out deaths that are instant or near-instant (ie - quality of care is not a factor in the death). The US has a far higher accident and murder rate than European countries and this drags our life expectancy stat down.

Posted by: KB at 03/29/2010 02:54:57 PM

I have to echo the comments about the life expectancy being skewed. US life expectancy includes early deaths due to gang violence and traffic fatalities (traffic alone accounts for 40,000+ deaths a year), something not related to the healthcare system. Factor those out and the results will be different

Posted by: Lil Nemo at 03/29/2010 07:51:37 PM

If our health care is so bad, why do leaders from much of the world come to the US for care - recently from Canada? The current legislation is not about health card, but about insurance - the two are not the same.

Posted by: Ray M at 03/29/2010 09:20:49 PM

It is interesting to read the different comments defending our American system. Sadly too many people are trying to profit off our system, Our values are distorted in the name of capitalism, and PT Barnum would say "I told you so.."

Posted by: Bill at 03/29/2010 09:56:35 PM

In 1990 the US paid 16% of our GDP on health care. No change!!!

Posted by: Realist at 03/29/2010 11:58:00 PM

Only one conclusion can be drawn from this data: when Obamacare is fully implemented, the amount(s) spent in the U.S. will go dramatically down, and quality of care will drop right along with it. When we hit Canadian healthcare utopia, it'll be almost cut in half. Yee- haw! I can't wait! One caveat however: the data doesn't distinguish elective vs. nonelective spending.

Posted by: R Benson at 03/30/2010 03:36:32 PM

RE: On good way is to put a limit on the ability to sue or the amount that one can sue for. But with lawyers being at the helm and top positions this is unlikely to happen. 1. Wouldn't limiting lawsuits be government interference with private enterprise? 2. Wouldn't limiting lawsuits be government standing between a person and his lawyer?

Posted by: kim at 04/06/2010 11:20:12 PM

cheapiest dosen't mean better quality or even equal as we in america get. i like private rooms. fast turn around on exams, results and procedures.