Not even remotely true.

If your way is better, why was medicine so much cheaper and effective here before medicare?

According to this graph it isn't, you were more out of pocket in your own cash.

This graph doesnt say anything. Its serves no purpose other than to make Democrats drool because it leaves out that prices skyrocketed along with taxes to increase* the price level of society

This post was edited by EndlessSky on Jul 23 2018 07:19am

Guess it depends what "great" means. Unless your deductible is super low and coverage is high it's hard to beat other countries for necessary medical procedures and routine care.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization_ranking_of_health_systems_in_2000

The US only ranks 1st for expenditure per capita.

I think most, if not everyone in the US agrees that your healthcare is too expensive (which also causes other problems, like sick people going to work).

@EndlessSky/Santara: Do you think that this ranking does not accurately represent quality of healthcare? If so, why? If the quality of US healthcare is lower than many nations, whilst being multiple times more expensive, would it not make the most sense to copy the most successful models? Any sane businessman would.

ACL surgery for example is 30% cheaper in the US (compared to UK or Canada) if you choose the right hospital.

This post was edited by EndlessSky on Jul 23 2018 08:11am

thats they key here: almost everyone agrees that the first and foremost issue of the american healthcare system are the high overall costs, and not the distribution of these costs. once the costs are reined in, we can talk about how to best distribute those costs among patients, the government and so on.

single payer would most likely rein in the healthcare costs, yes. but it would also almost surely lead to a public healthcare system that only covers the most basic treatment on a pitiful level; and the costs for personal plans which cover more than that would increase even further in price compared to the current state of affairs.

at least that's the how single payer turned out in the UK and other countries.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jul 23 2018 08:22am

And how far away is "the right hospital" for the average American?

A 100$ plane ticket and two hours. Cheaper than a funeral

What a banal consideration