Health care costs in US vs Europe | Health care system | Heatlh & Medicine | Khan Academy

TL;DR

Health care costs in the United States have been steadily increasing and are significantly higher compared to other developed countries, but it is unclear if the higher spending is resulting in better outcomes.

Transcript

SALMAN KHAN: I'm here with Doctor Laurence Baker from Stanford Medical School, and we're going to talk about health care costs, or health care economics, which you're an expert in. LAURENCE BAKER: I like to spend a lot of time thinking about-- [INTERPOSING VOICES] SALMAN KHAN: So all of these charts, which all seem to have a similar shape here, the... Read More

Key Insights

• 🇺🇸 Health care costs in the United States have been steadily increasing and are predicted to double by 2019, representing a significant portion of the country's GDP.
• ✋ The higher health care spending in the US is due to both the purchase of more services and the higher prices of these services compared to other developed countries.
• 😨 While the US spends more on health care, the outcomes in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality rates are not consistently better compared to other countries.
• 😨 The increase in health care costs in the US is mainly attributed to the adoption of expensive and specialized treatments and technologies.
• ✋ There is ongoing debate about whether the higher spending in the US is justified by the innovation and benefits it brings compared to other countries.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why are health care costs increasing in the United States?

Health care costs in the United States are increasing due to the purchase of more services, such as expensive tests and procedures, and the higher prices of these services compared to other countries. This is driven by a shift towards more specialized and high-tech treatments.

Q: Are we getting better outcomes for our higher health care spending?

The outcomes of higher health care spending in the United States are mixed. While the country does well in some areas, such as easier access to high-tech procedures, there are cases where the US does not perform better than other countries in terms of life expectancy and infant mortality rates.

Q: What factors contribute to higher health care costs in the United States compared to other countries?

The higher health care costs in the United States are attributed to buying more services, higher prices of services, and paying higher salaries to healthcare professionals. The US tends to purchase more expensive treatments and pay more for doctors' salaries and administration costs.

Q: Is there a specific policy shift that caused the increase in health care costs in the late 70s and early 80s?

There was no specific policy shift that caused the increase in health care costs during that time period. Instead, it was mainly driven by the adoption of new and expensive technologies and treatments, which were more readily incorporated in the US compared to other countries.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Total health spending in the United States has increased rapidly over the past few decades, reaching trillions of dollars and projected to double by 2019.

• The percentage of GDP spent on health care in the United States has also been significantly increasing, with predictions that it may approach 20% in the near future.

• The higher spending in the United States is attributed to the purchase of more services, including expensive high-tech procedures, and the higher prices of these services compared to other countries.