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Opinion | In health care, America is the world’s indispensable nation
Main Post: Opinion | In health care, America is the world’s indispensable nation
Top Comment:
now for something completely different!
in the article, written by:
David Goldhill is the chief executive of SesameCare.com, a digital marketplace for discounted health services.
the author alleges that comparing the US's staggering healthcare costs to other first world nations is an apples to oranges comparison. in effect, the US subsidizes healthcare throughout the world by making innovation profitable here, and companies later gain additional revenue by marketing to other countries at lower rates, the idea being to get whatever profit they can.
now, upon reading i couldn't immediately decide whether this is true or not. on the surface, it seems plausible, but there is a complete lack of citations, figures, or otherwise here which bolster any of his central claims other than "the US spends an enormous amount on health care".
thus, i turn to the good and wise people of this sub to help me winnow out the truth, and help me research this rather broad idea.
some initial questions to direct this collaborative effort:
- is the majority of innovation really done here in the states? are there no worthwhile therapies, drugs, research, or equipment produced anywhere else?
- how much do the large companies make in the states as opposed to worldwide?
- which large medical companies should we be looking at here, and what do they do?
- how does insurance factor into all of this? it should be noted that United Health, the company cited by the author, is largely an insurance company, with data services, administrative services, and health services on the side. they don't really do research.