[keithnz]

all you need to do is look at the profits (and running costs) of the health insurance industry to see where a lot of Americans health spend is leaking to, completely ignoring the fact the government is already spending more! Not to mention Americans still have to pay out of pocket costs over and above what insurance is paying for as well. You could still fund the drug industry out of the spend and make massive savings. Better yet, you can make it so no ones incentivized to push drugs other than what is evidentially effective (given a non perfect world where you can't 100% guarantee such things).

[kethinov]

I have looked and I don't buy it. I think any realistic transition to a single payer healthcare system in the United States is going to result in us still being the most expensive health care system in the world for lots of complex downstream consequences reasons. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. It means we should just embrace paying the most to get the highest quality product instead of pretending that the goal should be to somehow be less expensive than everyone else while still getting the best care. It's unrealistic. You get what you pay for.