An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back

by Elisabeth Rosenthal

Every other developed country in the world delivers healthcare for a fraction of what it costs here. They use a wide range of tools and strategies that line up with each country’s values, political realities, and medical traditions. Some set rates for healthcare encounters. Some negotiate prices for drugs and devices at a national level. Some have the government administer payments. Some mandate transparency. Some governments own hospitals and pay the doctors who work in them; others limit new hospital construction and the purchase of new machines. Most heavily subsidize medical school training. Although we tend to brand other countries as deploying “socialized medicine,” almost all use unique hybrids of government intervention and free market forces. Let’s look at a few basic tools that underpin their relative success at reining in cost.