I agree with most of what Wendell said above, but I think even we docs have begun to believe the much repeated mantra of "US medicine being more expensive than the rest of the world and not more effective". The latter is not completely true.
The most dramatic superiority is in cancer survival rates. American women with breast cancer have the highest survival in the world, over 90%. Your chance of dying of lung, breast, colon or prostate cancer in the UK is 1/3rd higher than in the US. A study comparing colon cancer cure rates in US & Europe in 2013 concluded "The wide differences in colorectal cancer survival between Europe and the USA ... are probably attributable to earlier stage and more extensive use of surgery and adjuvant treatment in the USA." America has among the best cancer survival statistics because of an abundance of high technology equipment and drugs, more extensive screening, and more aggressive treatment. Physicians in other countries can't or don't make them available to their citizens, because a 1-2% higher survival rate at a much higher cost is not considered necessary. Notwithstanding the ethical issue, this would not be acceptable to me if I was in that group. And it is certainly not acceptable in America that cancer outcomes are less optimal in some racial & ethnic groups.
The US has higher mortality rates for diabetes & heart disease, which has been attributed to a population that is becoming more obese & sedentary. Is this a medical care issue? I wish I had a way of changing lifestyle behaviors. Maybe better education to prevent children becoming obese may help.
I saw an interesting statistic during discussions of our recent US measles outbreak. While we in America are fretting over 1200 cases of measles this year, The EU counties have over 60,000 cases, with only a slightly higher population.
Just something to think about when the talking heads start up the healthcare rant again this election cycle.
