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libertangoA wise man once said, "If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion." In that spirit, here are some hard, crunchy, peer-reviewed figures showing that government spending per patient in the US is higher than in comparable single-payer countries. No wonder there's been such resistance to "socialized medicine" in the US by the health care infrastructure ("private" hospitals and "private" insurance): Turns out it would cut government subsidies too much.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/349/8/768
"Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada," New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 349:768-775, August 21, 2003
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7630/1126
"Competition in a publicly funded healthcare system," British Medical Journal, Volume 335:1126-1129, 1 December 2007
In the first we learn that in 1999, administrative costs took 31 cents out of every dollar the United States spent on health care, compared with only 17 cents in Canada.
In the second, we get the following bullet points regarding data from 2005 (or somewhat more recently):
* The US government's share of health care spending amounted to 9.7% of gross domestic product in 2005, 60.5% of total health spending or $4048 per capita (out of total expenditure of $6697)
* By contrast, government health spending in Canada and the UK was 6.9% and 7.2% of gross domestic profit respectively (or $2337 and $2371 per capita)
* Government health spending per capita in the US exceeds total (public plus private) per capita health spending in every country except Norway, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (emphasis added)
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/349/8/768
"Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada," New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 349:768-775, August 21, 2003
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7630/1126
"Competition in a publicly funded healthcare system," British Medical Journal, Volume 335:1126-1129, 1 December 2007
In the first we learn that in 1999, administrative costs took 31 cents out of every dollar the United States spent on health care, compared with only 17 cents in Canada.
In the second, we get the following bullet points regarding data from 2005 (or somewhat more recently):
* The US government's share of health care spending amounted to 9.7% of gross domestic product in 2005, 60.5% of total health spending or $4048 per capita (out of total expenditure of $6697)
* By contrast, government health spending in Canada and the UK was 6.9% and 7.2% of gross domestic profit respectively (or $2337 and $2371 per capita)
* Government health spending per capita in the US exceeds total (public plus private) per capita health spending in every country except Norway, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (emphasis added)
