Comment by methehack | Hacker News Reader

Comment by methehack | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

France is #1 in care according to the world health organization for 1/2 the cost per capita. It is all private, well-regulated, and provides universal coverage (your company pays your premium; if you have no employer, the govn't does).

We are #37 according to the world health organization and we cost twice as much.

I'm sure people in France complain, but they have way less of a reason to.

Some reasons for the cost savings: universal, portable medical record, insurance companies have to remit with three business days, reference pricing, one system not medicare, VA, private. Private insurance companies don't make tons of money they are so well regulated...

Old source but still painfully relevant. I have seen these stats elsewhere as well: https://www.npr.org/2008/07/11/92419273/health-care-lessons-...

> France is #1 in care according to the world health organization for 1/2 the cost per capita. It is all private, well-regulated, and provides universal coverage (your company pays your premium; if you have no employer, the govn't does).

> We are #37 according to the world health organization and we cost twice as much.

Note that ranks alone are not sufficient to evaluate this comparison. If the top 40 countries for Healthcare outcomes all had near-equivalent mortality rates, e.g., it wouldn't necessarily be a problem to be #37.

That said, they don't have equivalent mortality rates, so the ranks do happen to discriminate quite a bit.

Cancer patients in France may have reason to complain. They have significant lower 5-year survival rates compared to the USA.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33326-3

Our system has plenty of problems but let's make sure that any reforms don't ruin the best parts.

Life expectancy is pretty low in the US though. Seems all in all the system doesn’t work well.

Life expectancy in the USA is lower than France primarily due to other factors like obesity, sedentary lifestyles, substance abuse, suicide, and violence. Those problems can't really be fixed through healthcare system reforms (although making our healthcare system more efficient might eventually free up some funding for other social issues).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com