Also an interesting article, but completely irrelevant. People in Sweden, overall, are healthier than people in the US, overall...THAT is all this article shows. But, that is NOT proof that their health care system is better. There are MANY other important, highly correlated variables.
For starters, their population is extremely homogenous. They eat healthier, excercise far more, live in a heathier environment, don't eat the same crappy food we do, and don't have nearly as much economic stratification in their society.
I think THIS is a far better measure of who has the best health system:
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20080716/cancer-survival-rates-vary-by-country
(sorry.... my HTML skills are limited)
I also judge by: Where do the world's super-weathy go to get health care treatment.
They come here, not Iceland.
How much of this innovation is because of government spending on basic research?
I completely agree with you. A smaller, mostly homogenous population that is fitness oriented is going to be healthier than we are and will be able to control costs better.
Still, I believe we are steadily marching towards single payer for a couple of reasons:
1) The very nature of employment, now. Most folks don’t stay with one employer and it’s accompanying guaranteed healthcare. Employment is more tenuous; people don’t feel like they have financial security let along any level of health insurance security. You know that if you lose your programming job tomorrow, you have a 401k and $23,000 in the bank and two kids to provide for. The “middle class” just doesn’t feel that sense of safety that they felt after WWII. Don’t underestimate the desire for parents to make sure their kids have healthcare.
2) The cost of caring for the elderly. Without sharing costs with the young and healthy, it is going to be cost prohibitive (”going to be?”) to continue to care for the elderly. And let’s face it: we are not going to throw grandma under the bus.
I know there are a lot of ideas floating around to get around problem two, but I still think it will be a major contributor towards single payer. The elderly are costly to care for, and without the strong arm of the government, there is no reason for health insurance companies to accept them.
Hugo Chavez didn't, and now he's dead...Coincidence? I think not.