The U.S. healthcare customer most likely pays a larger fraction of the cost to develop new health products (drugs, equipment, etc.) compared to other parts of t

The U.S. healthcare customer most likely pays a larger fraction of the cost to develop new health products (drugs, equipment, etc.) compared to other parts of the world. Because of how the payment system is structured in the U.S., profit and R&D cost recovery that incentivizes new developments can be recovered with higher prices. The U.S. is the number one producer of new drugs: “the U.S. leads in the discovery of approved drugs, by a wide margin (118 out of the 252 drugs). Then Japan, the UK and Germany are about equal, in the low 20s each. Switzerland is in next at 13, France at 12, and then the rest of Europe put together adds up to 29. Canada and Australia put together add up to nearly 7, and the entire rest of the world (including China and India) is about 6.5, with most of that being Israel.” [1] The U.S. also leads the world (or is near the top) in other healthcare technology development: “The answer to the question, ‘what country leads the world in medical innovation?’ is the United States. Medical industry professionals all over the world would have to agree that the top medical technology currently being used around the world has ties to the U.S.” [2] Somebody has to pay for the new technologies and keep the profit incentives active. Somebody has to pay for the research centers to keep going. The U.S. customer is on the hook. We just need to figure out how to make sure those without the means can still get excellent healthcare. I don’t think we are there yet-by a long shot. Of course, none of this excuses the middlemen and crooks (hospitals, clinics, charlatans, etc.). That can only be fixed with fierce enforcement. [1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/where-drugs-come-country https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/where-drugs-come-c... [2] https://sterlingmedicaldevices.com/thought-leadership/medical-device-design-industry-blog/what-country-leads-the-world-in-medical-innovation/ https://sterlingmedicaldevices.com/thought-leadership/medica...