Public spending on healthcare (% of total spending on healthcare)
US 45%
UK 82%"
The most interesting thing about this, is that the U.S. government is spending about the same percentage of GDP on healthcare as the U.K. government. So, throw out the entire private health insurance system in the U.S., and we would still be spending roughly the same amount of GDP on health care as the U.K.
So the real question then becomes, why can we not get the same health care system as the U.K. for the money our government is already spending?
That's a good starting point for this whole discussion, I think.
When you compare public spending, you have to keep in mind the military. Unlike most European welfare states, the US has significant military obligations around the world. In fact, it's probably because of our military obligations to Europe that Europe can afford a welfare state--if they had to pay fully for their own national defense rather than being able to call on the United States, they would have serious problems maintaining a solvent national government.
US 16%
UK 8.4%
Public spending on healthcare (% of total spending on healthcare)
US 45%
UK 82%"
The most interesting thing about this, is that the U.S. government is spending about the same percentage of GDP on healthcare as the U.K. government. So, throw out the entire private health insurance system in the U.S., and we would still be spending roughly the same amount of GDP on health care as the U.K.
So the real question then becomes, why can we not get the same health care system as the U.K. for the money our government is already spending?
That's a good starting point for this whole discussion, I think.