European Health Systems: Still Better
I've been thinking a lot about European health care systems for an upcoming article (exciting teaser right? Stay tuned!), but I can't resist sharing this graph. You frequently hear that America might spend a uniquely large amount on health care, but the unchecked growth of spending is an international dilemma. The insinuation is that a European-style fix, if indeed one were possible, would not in fact solve the problem. It would just delay it. This graph from the Commonwealth Fund, however, calls that into question:
As you can see, it's true that everyone is experiencing spending growth. But America's growth is uniquely rapid. Our system is, in other words, uniquely broken.
(Graph source: Commonwealth Fund.)
By
Ezra Klein
|
May 20, 2009; 3:32 PM ET
Categories:
Charts and Graphs
,
International Health Care
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Posted by: jlundell | May 20, 2009 9:49 PM | Report abuse
have you ever considered that there is a "conspiracy of silence" regarding the health industry
this post repeats the now common story that the us spends so much in health care for so little in comparison to its peers
this is consistently repeated
it is frequently blamed on health cost inflation
but the story seems to end there
no one speaks about where the money is going
about how only the us has a for profit insurance component in the health industry
everyone agrees money is being spent unwisely but no one speaks of where the money goes, or of who is getting the money?
i think the corruption of the health industry may be more obnoxious and more harmful than the corruption of the financial industry
Posted by: jamesoneill | May 21, 2009 11:11 AM | Report abuse
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I'm too lazy to covert the graph to something meaningful, like share of GDP. You?