As Donald Trump talks about forcing UK NHS to pay higher prices for U.S. pharmaceutical companies' output, an amazing chart from the Our World in Data project (link to more interactive charts on health expenditure: https://ourworldindata.org/the-link-between-life-expectancy-and-health-spending-us-focus) plotting life expectancy against health expenditure for all OECD countries:
Source: https://ourworldindata.org/the-link-between-life-expectancy-and-health-spending-us-focus
This data is dire. The U.S. vastly outspends other countries in terms of health spending, yet it also vastly underperforms in terms of life expectancy. Yes, in part, the latter feature is down to violence (not ineffectiveness of healthcare), and in part it is down to horrific diets and sedentary life-styles of Americans. But controlling for all this, Americans still live shorter lives and get less preventative healthcare and lower quality medical interventions. All for a higher price.
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