Your health insurance policy lists a package of medical benefits such as tests, drugs and treatment services. The health insurance company agrees to cover the cost of certain benefits listed in your policy. It is always free to get health insurance quote.

This is a case of someone throwing a stone from a glass house. If someone is selectively citing information, it is the author of this piece as shown below.

(1)What the author doesn't say is that the so called tax "wedge" number shown is based on taxes for singles without children. Now, in many European countries, the taxable income is inversely proportional to the number of family members, pushing it down into much lower brackets. This advantage to families is much more effective than the US system that offers only a nominal reduction per family member. This is actually illustrated in one of charts of the OECD report that shows numbers of married couples with two children -- carefully ignored by the author.

(2) More generally, critics of the US healthcare system are generally not complaining that the US is not spending enough. What is criticized is the inefficiency and the unfairness of the system. 44 million uninsured people in a country that spends more than any other one! Other performance data confirm that the system is flawed. US taxpayers are paying top dollars for a system that leaves large segments of the population aside, and is unable to improve the health level of the population and bring it close to other developed countries. I wish the author would have addressed the subject in a less selective manner.

The best book I've seen on the subject is this:

Lives at Risk: Single-Payer National Health Insurance Around the World (Paperback)
by John C. Goodman, Gerald L. Musgrave, Devon M. Herrick
List Price: $22.95

# Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (July, 2004)
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0742541525

As an example, use infant mortality rates. You would think it would be easy to compare such things. In fact, in the USA, if it came out of a female's uterus, it has a pulse and breathes, it's a live birth and counted as such. If it's extremely premature and doesn't have a chance at life, it becomes an infant mortality.

In some other countries, if the infant is below a certain gestational age or size, even if it's crying, it's counted as a miscarriage and not counted as an infant mortality when it dies.

Check out this book. The authors do an admirable job deconstructing myths regarding single-payer medical systems.

This is a very commendable article but I would very much like to see a follow up.

How does the USA compare to other industrialized nations in healthcare effectiveness ? Average life span, child deaths,.... and when you make a matrix of spending & effectiveness which system is the most efficient one ?

I wouldn't be surprised if the United States would rank much higher than expected by the European Mainstream Media.

Wouldn't that be interesting material ?

The question isn't IF the US has good healthcare, but instead how it is that the US government can spend MORE money and still not provide healthcare to everyone.

This article points to the true benefit of a national healthcare system: Lower Costs. Just like a big health insurance company is able to provide better rates than a small one, a nationwide healthcare system can get the best rates of all! The social benefit of universal coverage is just a side-effect. Another benefit is fewer problems with legal liability issues and less money spent on "I slipped on a puddle in your store so I'm going to sue you".

I'm an American currently living in Europe, so I'm aware of all the horror stories about waiting months just to see a doctor, but I could continue to use private insurance, go to a private practice and still pay less money than I do in the US today.

The European media who continue to write disinformation about America should be ashamed. They have to know that they are writing and publishing lies. The facts are out there for anyone to find, but only if they want the truth. In the 2 years that I have been living in Belgium, it is obvious that the journalists (??????) would rather write half-truths or outright lies in order to satisfy their own agenda.

Let me tell you about healthcare in the States. I worked for many years in a federal and state capacity and the healthcare was paid for by those agencies. If you work, almost all companies offer various kinds of health insurance. For the elderly and families of low income, there is government-paid medical insurance available. Of course there are always those who are too lazy to work. I have no pity for them.

I dare one of these so-called journalists to come to America and visit the Texas Medical Center, only one of the type of facilities in the States. The US has some of the best heart, cancer and children's hospitals in the world. And, maybe this is why so many from around the world come to America for medical treatment. Medical care which is available for anyone and everyone.
http://www.tmc.edu/