With Healthcare Costs, the U.S. Is a Huge Outlier (Why we spend more on healthcare than any country)

RCM ^ | 08/07/2012 | Gary Burtless

[newzjunkey]

The article points out US "outcomes" (their word for "quality") are not better than comparable nations paying less.

You, your employer and other tax payers pay a premium for mediocrity and feel good about it because this is the United States of America. We're #1. /s

[Mack the knife]

The real problem with high healthcare costs is the involvement of 3rd party and government payers.

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Don’t forget the impact of State Government mandated coverage such as pregnancy, birth control, abortion, behavior modification, acupuncture, drug rehabilitation chiropractors, etc. These are services that everybody is required to pay for that many wouldn’t pay for voluntarily.

Mandated services increase costs in two ways: first, everybody must pay for them, and secondly, people may use the services that they wouldn’t use if they paid for them out of pocket.

[Mack the knife]

The real problem with high healthcare costs is the involvement of 3rd party and government payers.

---

Don’t forget the impact of State Government mandated coverage such as pregnancy, birth control, abortion, behavior modification, acupuncture, drug rehabilitation chiropractors, etc. These are services that everybody is required to pay for that many wouldn’t pay for voluntarily.

Mandated services increase costs in two ways: first, everybody must pay for them, and secondly, people may use the services that they wouldn’t use if they paid for them out of pocket.