Subtract out malpractice insurance and you still have higher medical education costs, and after adjusting for those doctors still usually come out ahead in the US.
As for single payer significantly decreasing malpractice claims I find that slightly dubious. Long term health care isn't the only reason for our higher malpractice cost, and depending on how any single payer system is set up you could still have some of that liability, esp. for cases of serious negligence, you might even have the state suing the doctor for the cost.
"That contributes to 1 and 2 above, and generally to the demand for health care."
Umm, right. Got any proof for the assertion that Americans use the health care system more than others?
Extra demand doesn't equal using more of something. Its extra demand in terms of dollars. On top of that we probably do consume extra health care, at least in terms of drug consumption, neonatal intervention, and extraordinary efforts to prolong the life of very old people.
The extra dollars of health care demand increase in a greater than linear fashion as national wealth increases, because expensive health care is in an economic sense a luxury good, and also because of "Baumol's Disease"
Message 23754079
In fact, the US has longer waits than many countries with universal coverage.
The US has longer waits than some countries for initial visits/consultations with doctors, but it typically has shorter, in some cases much shorter waits for medical scans and elective procedures. |
