robot-heart-politics:

Also, perhaps a better question to ask than, “Are you satisfied with your current health care system?” would be, “Would you rather have a fully privatized health care system like the one they have in America?” Thinking your system needs improvement is very different from thinking your system should be like the American one or thinking the American system is preferable. While I’m sure you could find some Europeans who would prefer the American system, my guess is far more are appalled by the way we treat our citizens than think their own country should switch over to doing things our way.

I’ve seen a few of these posts today. I think some people are misinformed. America doesn’t have a privatized system. The US government spends more money on health care per capita than any OECD country other than Norway. That’s just government spending, not the amount people spend themselves on private insurance or care. That’s not the amount spent per person covered by Medicare and Medicaid, that’s the amount spent on those programs divided by every person living here. This doesn’t include the obscene outlays for future expenses, this is how much the government spends now. The US government has pricing power in the programs it administers, yet still manages to be more expensive per person covered than any other plan (including Norway). The implication is correct, someone in Europe would be stupid to want the American system, where the government spends more but covers fewer.