I lived in France, and I have relatives, including my sister, who lives in France now (and is a recipient of the French medical establishment's services). I wor

I lived in France, and I have relatives, including my sister, who lives in France now (and is a recipient of the French medical establishment's services). I worked for a US HMO for 5 years. I also worked for a US medical malpractice insurance company for 1 year. The points you make are valid, and I agree the system is messed up. Alas, I recognize that all massive systems are messed up and cost a lot more than they should, because large systems introduce inefficiencies. It is possible that the US system is less cost-effective than systems in Europe because of the size of the US population versus that of other European countries. Japan seems to be a hybrid system, and has a population of 125 million or so, but I don't know much about it despite the fact that my wife is Japanese. In the other large-population countries such as China, India, Indonesia, I don't know that things are any better. (As an aside, I don't think sarcasm is ever "called-for".)