This would be true if the only way to improve healthcare was to throw more money at it. The US could have the best healthcare system if it chose to spend those 12% on something else than pharma's pockets.
There isn't some simple silver bullet here. While the US ends up subsidizing other industrialized countries for prescription drugs (and that should be stopped), it is a small percentage of overall healthcare costs:
>While prescription drug costs only accounted for 8 percent of total U.S. healthcare spending in 2020, the price of such drugs has risen substantially over the last few decades. ... The U.S. spends twice as much on prescription drugs as other comparatively wealthy nations, on average.
>While prescription drug costs only accounted for 8 percent of total U.S. healthcare spending in 2020, the price of such drugs has risen substantially over the last few decades. ... The U.S. spends twice as much on prescription drugs as other comparatively wealthy nations, on average.
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2022/11/how-much-does-the-united-s...