The Most Expensive Health Care in the World Is Far From the Best

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It’s a fantasy world where none of the the byzantine, baffling, sometimes ruinous financing of US medical care exists — no insurance premiums, deductibles, copays, out-of-pocket limits, surprise bills, ambulance fees, payment plans, health savings accounts, coverage denials, coverage appeals, insulin costs, patient assistance charities, crowdfunding a,nd medical bankruptcies. Nice dream, right?

Then, back in the real world, you break your leg in one of the scores of countries with universal health insurance. You’re taken to an emergency room, where you receive X-rays. You’re seen by a doctor or nurse practitioner who confirms the diagnosis. You get a stabilizing boot and some crutches. And off you go, without so much as a parking fee.

That’s when reality comes crashing in. You thought you lived in the country with the finest health care in the world. You don’t. You live in the country with the world’s most expensive health care. A country where, 12 years after an enormous legislative effort to extend affordable coverage to the entire population, 8% still lack health insurance. Where half of adults are worried about medical costs that sometimes force them to delay or forgo care. Where life expectancy ranks 40th among all nations — that’s just better than Ecuador but behind Turkey, for those of you scoring at home — and newborn mortality ranks 33rd worldwide. 

The only category in which the US hold the undisputed lead is in measures of health spending — gross, per capita, and as a percentage of GDP.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-11-30/the-most-expensive-health-care-in-the-world-is-far-from-the-best