See for yourself why Americans pay too much for health care

By Ezra Klein
WashPost

There are a lot of complicated explanations for why American health-care costs so much, but there are also some simple ones. Chief among them is "we pay too much." And I don't mean in general. I mean specifically. Mountains of research show that for every piece of care you might name -- a drug, a doctor visit, a diagnostic -- you'll pay far more in the United States than in other countries. That's why seniors head to Canada to buy drugs made in the United States. In Canada, the government negotiates one low price. In America, insurers with much less bargaining power negotiate many higher prices.

But it's one thing to say that that's true. It's another thing to see it. Here are four graphs from the International Federation of Health Plans tracking what people in other countries pay for various medical services and items, and what we pay. Note that the American number manifests as a range, while the others don't: That's because in other countries, the government gets one price, while in our country, an array of insurers get many different prices.



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