In the US primary election campaign, one candidate, Bernie Sanders, has rightly emphasized the right of all citizens to have equal access to basic health care. But his proposal – mandatory single-payer health insurance, or “Medicare for all” – is economically unconvincing.
DUSSELDORF – You cannot get better health care anywhere in the world than in the United States – that is, if you can afford it. And, faced with what is by far the most expensive health-care system in the world, affording it is no small feat. Indeed, US health-care spending, half of which is private, will reach $10,651 per capita this year alone, the equivalent of 18.4% of GDP. Despite the progress that President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act – so-called “Obamacare” – has made in expanding health-insurance coverage, many Americans still lack sufficient access to modern diagnostics and treatment.
DUSSELDORF – You cannot get better health care anywhere in the world than in the United States – that is, if you can afford it. And, faced with what is by far the most expensive health-care system in the world, affording it is no small feat. Indeed, US health-care spending, half of which is private, will reach $10,651 per capita this year alone, the equivalent of 18.4% of GDP. Despite the progress that President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act – so-called “Obamacare” – has made in expanding health-insurance coverage, many Americans still lack sufficient access to modern diagnostics and treatment.