In the meantime, it might be helpful to take a second and look at just how bad, yes bad, the healthcare is in the United States by comparing prices for drugs and procedures with those from some other countries around the world. Because Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and President Obama should be ashamed of what their respective plans won't do in terms of reducing the costs that Americans pay for their healthcare.
The International Federation of Health Plans is a global network of health insurance members world wide. Here are some drug and procedure prices for a set of drugs and procedures from their 2015 Comparative Price Report. The US prices are based on 370 million medical claims and over 170 million pharmacy claims that represent actual prices negotiated and paid (not list price) by insurers. The prices for Austria, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa and the U.K. are from the private sector from at least one private health plan. In many countries the private health plans compete with "socialized" health care.
| Drug | Use | South Africa | Spain | Switzerland | New Zealand | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xarelto | Blood Clots | $48 | $101 | $102 | $n.a. | $126 | $292 |
| Humira | Rheumatoid Arthritis | $552 | $1,253 | $822 | $n.a. | $1,362 | $2,669 |
| Harvani | Hepatitis C | $n.a. | $18,165 | $16,861 | $n.a. | $22,554 | $32,114 |
| Truvada | AIDS | $n.a. | $559 | $906 | $n.a. | $689 | $1,301 |
| Tecfidera | Relapsing M.S. | $n.a. | $1,399 | $1,855 | $n.a. | $663 | $5,089 |
| Avastin | Cancer | $956 | $1,534 | $1,752 | $n.a. | $470 | $3,930 |
| Oxycontin | Moderate to Severe Pain | $n.a. | $84 | $36 | $n.a. | $590 | $265 |
| Angiogram | Diagnostic | $n.a. | $240 | $191 | $1,089 | $2,149 | $1,164 |
| C.T. Scan Abdomen | Diagnostic | $233 | $85 | $383 | $483 | $860 | $844 |
| MRI | Diagnostic | $455 | $130 | $503 | $811 | $788 | $1,119 |
| Colonoscopy | Diagnostic | $632 | $589 | $604 | $1,421 | $3,059 | $1,301 |
| Cardiac Catheterization | Diagnostic | $2,596 | $2,974 | $181 | $3,196 | $4,046 | $5,061 |
| Hospitalization | Cost per day | $631 | $424 | $4,781 | $2,142 | $n.a. | $5,220 |
| Appendectomy | Hospital and Physician | $1,786 | $2,003 | $6,040 | $6,199 | $8,009 | $15,930 |
| Normal Delivery | Hospital and Physician | $1,271 | $1,950 | $7,751 | $n.a. | $n.a. | $10,808 |
| C-section | Hospital and Physician | $2,192 | $2,352 | $9,965 | $7,901 | $n.a. | $16,106 |
| Cataract Surgery | Hospitalization and Physician | $1,186 | $1,719 | $2,114 | $2,740 | $3,145 | $3,530 |
| Knee Replacement | Hospitalization and Physician | $7,795 | $6,687 | $20,132 | $16,508 | $18,451 | $28,184 |
| Hip Replacement | Hospitalization and Physician | $7,685 | $6,757 | $17,112 | $15,465 | $16,335 | $29,067 |
| Bypass Surgery | Hospitalization and Physician | $18,501 | $14,579 | $34,224 | $32,480 | $24,059 | $78,318 |
| Angioplasty | Hospitalization and Physician | $6,510 | $7,839 | $10,006 | $13,667 | $7,264 | $31,620 |
Note that these prices are for private insurance. A standard claim against countries with national health care "aka socialized medicine" is that people have to wait until they die to get care. Anyone that can afford private insurance can get care they want any time outside the national health care. Even then, Americans pay substantially more than people in other countries. Why?
Is it possible that national health care might work to keep private prices down?
Regardless, it is readily apparent that Americans, for whatever reason, pay too much for health care. Perhaps it is time that that changed.
