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by ozzy6009 3509 days ago
1. The USA has the best doctors and hospitals. The marginal benefit to having better doctors and hospitals is completely dwarfed by their higher prices. Would you be willing to pay 2x to have a 5% better chance of no complications on a surgery for a rare condition? Well the USA does exactly that.

2. The USA subsidizes drug development for the rest of the world. All the R&D happens here, and the only reason so much money is spent on this R&D is because the drug companies can charge maximum price to Americans. Other countries negotiate as a block to lower prices. This is great for those countries (cheaper drugs) and the drug companies (marginally expanded markets), but it increases the fraction of money from the US going to that R&D.
1 comments
iainmerrick 3509 days ago
2 is a good point, but I don't think 1 is correct.

I've heard that Cuba has the best doctors, and they often play a crucial role in emergency aid to other countries.

For quality of health care overall, the US is just a solid middle ranker when it comes to life expectancy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expe... That's only one metric, of course, but it seems like an important one.

It seems like the US pays about 3x more (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea...) for moderately worse outcomes.

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tropo 3508 days ago
Cuba has people in a different climate, with a different culture, and different inherent susceptibility to disease.

If we were to supply Cuba with bacon double cheeseburgers and unlimited soda refills, that life expectancy would not be so hot. Also, give them all desk jobs.

Healthcare is better in the USA. We just like to do bad things to ourselves.

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iainmerrick 3508 days ago
Canada, then. They have a very similar culture, and I don't think anyone would call their climate substantially more hospitable. They spend half as much on healthcare and live three years longer. Their approach (publicly funded, free at the point of use) would seem to be much more effective than the US approach.

I mentioned Cuba because I've heard many anecdotes about how skilled and well-trained their doctors are -- they don't have the money and resources for lots of modern drugs and equipment, so they invest in their workforce instead. I'm not saying Cuba is in great shape overall, just that I have heard they have excellent doctors. (I don't have data to back that up, though)

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