To be born in America is considered an incredible privilege. This is the wealthiest country on earth, with many opportunities. There are enough jobs to go around at the moment (less than 4% of the population are unemployed at the time of publishing.)
When you compare the USA to countries like India, where more than 60% of the population live on less than $3.20 per day, we’re in a pretty good place. There’s a lot of things most Americans can afford to do. 95% of American households own a car, for example.
But, there’s one thing Americans can’t afford. And that’s to get sick.
As you can see from the infographic below, the USA spends around twice as much per person when it comes to healthcare. The main reason for that seems to be because everything costs more:
A day in the hospital costs 1,200% more here than it does in Spain.
To have your appendix removed costs 200%+ more than it does in Australia.
Delivering a baby costs almost 40% more than in Switzerland.
And, bypass surgery costs 225% more than it does in the UK.
Those are significant increases.
But, the real difference comes in who pays these medical expenses. In the UK, the government pays for the costs of healthcare. A percentage of all taxes collected is attributed to the National Health Service (NHS.)
This is used to cover healthcare costs. This means when a British person visits the hospital they receive treatment without making any payment or insurance claim. British people can have health insurance to get treatment at non-government hospitals, but this is extremely rare amongst working class people.
Source: QuickApply
[A version of this article was originally posted on QuickApply.com, and republished here with permission.]
One thought on “We Spend More Than Any Other Nation On Healthcare, But Americans Can’t Afford To Get Sick”