The US government(s) spend about as much money per capita on health care as the average European country. Obviously US health care costs are out of control for

The US government(s) spend about as much money per capita on health care as the average European country. Obviously US health care costs are out of control for other reasons than the existence of private insurance. To be clear because that's easy to misunderstand: despite the fact Americans do not have universal public health care, the government already spends as much as many European countries that do, per capita. Part of this, of course, is because US public health care spending is concentrated on the old (Medicare) and disabled/poor (Medicaid). But it's still a shocking testament to US health care costs.