[h4b4n3r0]

Once again, US share of taxes in GDP is 26%. Denmark: 50.8, Sweden 49.8, Germany 44.5, France 47.9, UK 34.4. So weighted by GDP it does cost quite a bit.

[didroe]

Why are you quoting figures for the entire tax take in a discussion about healthcare? To give you some perspective, the healthcare-only figures for those countries are US: 16.8%, Denmark: 10.3%, Sweden: 11%, Germany: 11.2%, France: 11.1% and UK: 9.9%. Data here:

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?year_...

[h4b4n3r0]

Because OP wanted to "switch" to European socialized insurance, without also "switching" to their levels of incomes and taxes as well. Of course their cost of labor is lower: they socialize a bunch of costs that would otherwise need to be recouped through the earnings of doctors, nurses, administrative personnel, etc. On top of that they get US drugs for a fraction of the cost, and don’t do any serious pharma research (because there’s quite literally no money in it, given the cost of drugs). It’s not a valid comparison. My point wasn't that US healthcare is not expensive, anyone with any brain at all can tell that it is. It was that you can't pick and choose, and on balance, even with the more expensive healthcare, the US is a "better deal" for the vast majority of people who comment on this site.

[TomVDB]

And how much of this additional cost goes toward medical cost?

The US health care issue can only be solved by higher taxes and lower cost (it’s currently at 2x the cost of developed countries.)

[h4b4n3r0]

Doesn't have to be higher taxes, that's my point. It can be solved by lowering the cost through technology and regulation, which Obama chose not to do, because that would eliminate a ton of jobs. Switzerland has essentially Obamacare, and does cutting edge pharma research (unlike the rest of the world, except for the US), and doctors get decent, albeit not exorbitant, wages (again, unlike in the rest of the world except the US), and if you look at the cost, their insurance is not that expensive, and their taxes are, on the whole, lower than in the rest of Europe. Pumping trillions of dollars through the government only adds overhead, because we all know how terribly inefficient government spending is.

[etiennemarcel]

Yet the administrative costs of Medicare or the French healthcare system are much lower than private insurances. I'm not sure the government is that inefficient...