I don't assume a slower localized advancement in medicine. There is a global market for medical technology, and it will be sold wherever it is profitable enough

I don't assume a slower localized advancement in medicine. There is a global market for medical technology, and it will be sold wherever it is profitable enough to do so. The fact remains: the further the price of health care is forced down by insurers who comprise the bulk of their respective insurance markets (usually governments), the less money will be available to incentivize people to produce medical technology. Americans will be covered rain or shine once the healthcare reform bill kicks in. If you can afford it, you have to by insurance. If you can't, it will be subsidized so you can afford it. That's the goal, anyway. Markets require choice to function properly. I think the American approach is less likely to result in unintended consequences.