Every nation has different political, economic, and social characteristics that influence how much it will spend on healthcare. As a result, each nation allocates a different amount of resources for healthcare. In general, wealthier nations like the United States will spend more on healthcare than less developed nations. In order to better understand healthcare spending in the United States, it is useful to compare it to spending in other affluent, comparable nations. These nations have gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita GDP that are higher than the median for all OECD nations.
The United States had the highest healthcare expenses per capita among the OECD nations in 2021, spending an estimated $12,318 per person on healthcare. In contrast, wealthier OECD nations outside the United States averaged just $5,829 per person in healthcare expenditures, with Germany ranking second with around $7,383 per person. These comparisons show that American healthcare spending is disproportionately high.
Is the American healthcare system the best in the world?
The Affordable Care Act’s continued deployment this year sparked a lot of worries and ominous rumours. The trickle news is positive thus far: About 6 million people enrolled in the law’s Medicaid expansion as of May 1, and 7.8 million young adults (aged 19 to 25) obtained insurance under their parents’ policies. As of May 1, an estimated 20 million people had obtained coverage under the new law. More people (39%) felt that the Affordable Care Act had benefited them than had a negative impact (29%), and 46% of people switched to plans with lower premiums (39% paid more but frequently for better coverage). 3 In addition, the law has already improved lives.
It was noted that adolescents and young adults receiving care under their parents’ insurance fared better. Nevertheless, certain issues were discovered. There were fewer provider options, “hidden cliffs” (people earning slightly more than four times the federal poverty level—$46,000 for an individual, $95,000 for a family of four—and who are not eligible for tax credit subsidies to lower insurance premiums), fewer care options, pressure from insurers to limit care, attempts to limit drug options from pharmacies, and higher out-of-pocket costs on specific medications (such as antiretroviral drugs), among other issues. New laws might be passed to address these. So far, the majority of news regarding the Affordable Care Act has been positive, and the dire predictions made by some experts that never came true included low enrollment and a “death spiral” of the law, high rates of coverage loss, rate shocks, skyrocketing health-care costs, a lack of interest from younger people, and nonpayment of premiums.
So why is there still opposition to, negative coverage around, and even demands to dismantle the Affordable Care Act if Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress? Maybe it’s because some Americans still hold on to the idea that our country had “the greatest healthcare system in the world” prior to the Affordable Care Act. This phrase has been said so frequently that many people believe it to be unbreakable truth. We believe what we say, and repetition makes what we say more true. Belief becomes reality.
Some media outlets promote the idea that our healthcare system is the greatest by using tales about presidents, dignitaries from other countries, and affluent people who travel here for medical treatment, as well as statistics showing that Canadians wait longer for treatments than Americans. The idea gains traction when influential people like Republican House Speaker John Boehner claimed that the Affordable Care Act “is going to destroy the greatest health-care delivery system in the world.”