Even if you exclude the private insurance market (!) and look only at public health costs, the US picture is dismal. - 944 billion on Medicare (federal) - 805

Even if you exclude the private insurance market (!) and look only at public health costs, the US picture is dismal. - 944 billion on Medicare (federal) - 805 billion on Medicaid (federal + state) - 118 billion on VA health costs - 21 billion on CHIP That's 1.5 trillion alone, and that doesn't count ACA subsidies, or other state and local government-owned or subsidized medical facilities. That's $5800/year per capita - ALL persons in the US, whether they have private or public or no insurance. US government per capita health care spending is already higher than many European countries and a little more than two-thirds the Swiss number you mention. While US private health insurance companies don't help the situation, neither are they a main cause of US health care costs.