UHC/Single Payer in the US...how would you do it?

[Northern_Piper]

@davida03801

Really. What I read about the UK and Canadian systems is quite negative. Please provide the cites with the glowing reviews of either.

Muffin provided an interesting set of stats over in the “What is Canada” thread in IMHO, which I’ll just re-post here:

@Muffin

Canadians live longer than Americans:
79.3 years = Canadian life expectancy (2001)
77.0 years = American life expectancy (2001)

Canadians enjoy better health longer than Americans:
69.9 years = Canadian healthy life expectancy (2001)
67.4 = American healthy life expectancy (2001)

Canadian individuals and insurers do not pay as much as American individuals and insurers:
28 = Canadian private expenditure on health as % of total expenditure on health (2000)
55.7 = American private expenditure on health as % of total expenditure on health (2000)

Canadian taxpayers do not pay as much for health care as the American taxpayers:
$1826 = Canadian per capita government expenditure on health in international dollars (2000)
$1992 = American per capita government expenditure on health in international dollars (2000)

Less of Canada’s GDP is spent on health than the USA’s:
9.1 = Canadian total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2000)
13 = American total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2000)

World Health Organization stats: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/annex/en/

So, Canadians pay less public money for UHC than Americans do for non-UHC, and get better results.