Taken as a whole, American medicine provides far less value per dollar than other comparable countries. I don't think you can marshal any statistics to disprove that statement.
It may be true that there are small differences in cancer survival between countries -- but the differences appear to be within the range of statistical error if you look closely. On the other hand, no other comparable country bankrupts its citizens because of cancer or autoimmune disease, and employer-paid health insurance is good only as long as you are employed, and as long as the employer provides insurance. If you get really sick you will lose your job -- and your insurance. Self-employed people pay ruinous sums for very bare-bones coverage.
I personally don't think these social disruptions are mitigated by the possible few extra months of life for SOME cancer patients.
The USA has chosen to spend vast sums of money on "defense" -- but we could easily provide housing and health care to most of our citizens if we were to re-order our priorities. I don't think we need to debate health care vs. defense -- but it is clear there is a lot of money sloshing around in both areas, much of which could be spent more wisely than it is at present.
