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> Basically, the government doesn't pay for anything; only private insurers do The US government does spend huge sums of money on healthcare. Medicare and Med

> Basically, the government doesn't pay for anything; only private insurers do The US government does spend huge sums of money on healthcare. Medicare and Medicaid are 21% and 16%, respectively, of total healthcare spending as of 2018. [0] That's 37% of the total. Given that total healthcare spending is about $11,172 per capita, that's $4,133.64 per capita. [0] The UK spent £2,989 per person in 2017 in total. [1] It's not correct to do so, but using today's GBP to USD exchange rate that's roughly $3850. This puts US per capita government spending alone (keep in mind it's Federal + state) in the same ballpark as the UK's entire healthcare expenditure per capita. > On top of that, the actual cost of care is far, far higher than in other developed nations for the same procedures, due to many systemic problems. Sure is. This is a huge issue and IMO the issue to solve. But sadly, no candidate is really digging into why costs are so much higher outside of administrative overhead (which is real, but eliminating it doesn't solve the problem). [0] https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta... [1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthcaresystem/bulletins/ukhealthaccounts/2017 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthan...

mariuolo 7y ago
> Sure is. This is a huge issue and IMO the issue to solve. But sadly, no candidate is really digging into why costs are so much higher outside of administrative overhead (which is real, but eliminating it doesn't solve the problem). Has anyone estimated the impact of costly lawsuits->higher professional insurance costs->higher prices->higher medical insurance prices vicious cycle ?
- owenmarshall 7y ago
  That's a huge talking point among the right, yes.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  Yes, but it's mostly not a huge issue in terms of overall costs. Many states already cap med-mal liabilities. Currently, Virginia is capped at $2.4 million. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter21.1/section8.01-581.15/ https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter21.1/se... Sounds like a lot on first glance, but if you're young and lose a lifetime of income, or need a lifetime of assistance/follow-on care, due to negligence, it's a drop in the bucket.
- Zach_the_Lizard 7y ago
  > Specifically, physician salaries plus diagnostic tests comprise 4.04% of GDP in the US, compared to only 2.3% in the UK. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292120300337 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001429212... If you read more, I believe diagnostic testing comes out to 0.5% of GDP in the UK vs. 2% of GDP in the US, a far bigger effect than the difference in salaries. So yes, there is some indication that lawsuits can lead to more tests and thus wildly higher testing costs. I wonder if this is also leading to doctors to favoring newer medications that should be "the best" versus cheaper generics that would be more cost effective for a particular ailment. Speaking of which, the way drug approvals and patents work also increases costs, and there are perhaps some small tweaks like permitting foreign first-world drug approvals to count in the US as well that might also help keep a lid on costs.
- dillonmckay 7y ago
  That is the rational for ‘tort reform’, to make these numbers more predictable.
magduf 7y ago
>>The US government does spend huge sums of money on healthcare. >Medicare and Medicaid are 21% and 16% Ok, I misspoke there, but the US government does not spend anything on you if you don't qualify for one of these two programs.

mariuolo 7y ago

> Sure is. This is a huge issue and IMO the issue to solve. But sadly, no candidate is really digging into why costs are so much higher outside of administrative overhead (which is real, but eliminating it doesn't solve the problem). Has anyone estimated the impact of costly lawsuits->higher professional insurance costs->higher prices->higher medical insurance prices vicious cycle ?

owenmarshall 7y ago
That's a huge talking point among the right, yes.
alistairSH 7y ago
Yes, but it's mostly not a huge issue in terms of overall costs. Many states already cap med-mal liabilities. Currently, Virginia is capped at $2.4 million. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter21.1/section8.01-581.15/ https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter21.1/se... Sounds like a lot on first glance, but if you're young and lose a lifetime of income, or need a lifetime of assistance/follow-on care, due to negligence, it's a drop in the bucket.
Zach_the_Lizard 7y ago
> Specifically, physician salaries plus diagnostic tests comprise 4.04% of GDP in the US, compared to only 2.3% in the UK. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292120300337 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001429212... If you read more, I believe diagnostic testing comes out to 0.5% of GDP in the UK vs. 2% of GDP in the US, a far bigger effect than the difference in salaries. So yes, there is some indication that lawsuits can lead to more tests and thus wildly higher testing costs. I wonder if this is also leading to doctors to favoring newer medications that should be "the best" versus cheaper generics that would be more cost effective for a particular ailment. Speaking of which, the way drug approvals and patents work also increases costs, and there are perhaps some small tweaks like permitting foreign first-world drug approvals to count in the US as well that might also help keep a lid on costs.
dillonmckay 7y ago
That is the rational for ‘tort reform’, to make these numbers more predictable.

magduf 7y ago

>>The US government does spend huge sums of money on healthcare. >Medicare and Medicaid are 21% and 16% Ok, I misspoke there, but the US government does not spend anything on you if you don't qualify for one of these two programs.