[robocat]

> The outcomes for US patients with health insurance are better than they are just about anywhere

How many people in the US lose their health insurance because of serious health issues e.g. lose their job, or run out of money for private insurance due to spiraling costs of dealing with a serious health problem? Or because they are old? Or because due to a slight health issue, confounding effects make it much less likely to have insurance? Or poor people have worse health and they can’t afford insurance?

Saying outcomes are better for those with insurance could very easily be due to other correlated causes, and not due to the healthcare system working well.

[AnthonyMouse]

So cultural differences like substance abuse and suicide between the US and Europe explain nothing there, but cultural differences between people with and without health insurance in the US explain everything?

You're basically making the opposite point. Maybe people also live longer in Europe because they have more of a safety net (and therefore less severe poverty) in general, and so what the US really needs is a UBI rather than single payer.