So Americans have higher or lower longevity than Western Europeans? What about Asians? (we're around about 30th in the world for longevity. Right behind us, CUBA!!!)Edwardo wrote:^ I don't know, but as a pharmaceutical company, why invest billions of dollars in research and development costs for finding new blockbuster drugs if you will be limited by the clueless government health care bureaucrats in how much you can sell the drug for and never recoup your investment, much less make a profit? The government can't run anything without fucking it up. Tell me when the US government has done anything cost effectively in-house? The best and brightest don't go to work there and all key decisions that affect people's lives are based on the ever-changing political mood of the day.
The U.S. pays more than TWICE as much as western European countries per person. on average, for healthcare. (you can google)
Medical bills are the largest cause of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. (you can google)
A single payer system would by necessity drive these prices down. Would medical research stop? Would people stop becoming MDs? Seems like a stretch.