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cloudboy -> Health Care Costs -- US Most Expensive (6/2/2013 5:27:55 PM)
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From the NYT today:
Angiogram: US Cost $914 / Canadian Cost $35
Colonoscopy: US Cost $1,185 / Switzerland $655
Hip Replacement: US Cost $40,364 / Spain $7,731
Liptor: US Cost $124 / New Zealand $6
M.R.I. Scan: US Cost $1,121 / Netherlands $319
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Whether directly from their wallets or through insurance policies, Americans pay more for almost every interaction with the medical system. They are typically prescribed more expensive procedures and tests than people in other countries, no matter if those nations operate a private or national health system. A list of drug, scan and procedure prices compiled by the International Federation of Health Plans, a global network of health insurers, found that the United States came out the most costly in all 21 categories — and often by a huge margin.
The United States spends about 18 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, nearly twice as much as most other developed countries. The Congressional Budget Office has said that if medical costs continue to grow unabated, “total spending on health care would eventually account for all of the country’s economic output.” And it identified federal spending on government health programs as a primary cause of long-term budget deficits.
A major factor behind the high costs is that the United States, unique among industrialized nations, does not generally regulate or intervene in medical pricing, aside from setting payment rates for Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs for older people and the poor.
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Republicans have tried to repeal the new health care law 37x without offering a solution to cut heath care costs or to expand some kind of coverage to the uninsured. It does not get more irresponsible than that. Has REP party simply given up on passing helpful legislation to help solve important problems confronting the nation?
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