[ethbr1]

> there's no reason for our medical care to be inaccessible for most people in the US.

A limited number of physicians, especially general practices? High cost therapies and treatments? Capital-intensive diagnostic devices? Lack of access outside of cities?

There are certainly a lot of things that could be done better, but this isn't 1950 -- some available medical technology is incredibly expensive.

Simply unshackling Medicare/aid and allowing it more freedom to negotiate costs would go a long way towards reducing US health care expenditures.

I.e. doing for more payments what the Inflation Reduction Act allowed Medicare to do for (a limited number of) drugs: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/fact-sheet-medicare-selec...

[whoitwas]

umm... what? do you think there was free healthcare in the 50s in the US?

every single other country has free healthcare, lower costs, and better outcomes than USA.

[ethbr1]

There's a big difference between training, staffing, and funding free health care when we're talking about a doctor's bag and penicillin vs MRIs and monoclonal antibodies.

> every single other country has free healthcare, lower costs, and better outcomes than USA.

Aside from those first two being mutually exclusive, no, they don't all.

There are a large variety of funding methods, ultimate out of pocket costs, and outcomes throughout the world.

You'd probably find this an interesting read: https://ourworldindata.org/financing-healthcare

The US is certainly an outlier based on {total spent of healthcare}:{health outcomes}, but it's generally in the middle of the pack in terms of GDP-adjusted out-of-pocket costs. (Mostly as a consequence of private insurance + Medicare/aid)

[winocm]

Also https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/03/15/ama-scope.... This mistake made some 20 years ago is a festering problem today.

[whoitwas]

which first world countries don't have single payer health care?

usa has by far highest cost and worst outcomes. practically speaking, most americans don't have access to medical care.

[ethbr1]

All the countries listed here? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_systems_by_count...

It's easiest if you sort by decreasing coverage, then look at all the 100% coverage countries, which tend to be developed.

To summarize though, aside from single payer, mandatory public-private hybrid and private are also used.

And you should look into the numbers before making absolute statements.

The facts, in contrast to how you stated it:

- The US spends more per capita on healthcare than many (all?) other countries

- Of that, an average amount is out of pocket (relative to developed country peers)

- The US has some poor metrics, particularly in maternal mortality and lifestyle diseases, but is average on others (relative to developed country peers)

- Because of EMTALA [0], all Americans within range of a hospital (that accepts Medicaid) have access to emergency care, whether or not they're insured. The primary problem with access is the scarcity of rural doctors, especially generalists (an AMA/federal-government problem because of limits put in place in the 80s)

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_...