The Biggest Misconceptions about American Healthcare

There are two things — and maybe only two things — we can say for certain about America’s healthcare system: No one seems to like it and no one really seems to understand how it works. Why the confusion? A big part of the issue is probably the many of the most common talking points about healthcare are wrong.

For instance: some say American healthcare is driven by heartless capitalism. Other say it’s bureaucratic socialism. The real answer: neither one is right — because our system isn’t nearly that coherent. In 2021, about 1/3 of Americans got their healthcare from the government, but the other 2/3 had private insurance. Yet, in practice, the public and private sectors are constantly overlapping, meaning most people don’t live purely in either world.

Then there’s the claim that Americans pay more for healthcare than people in the rest of the world but get worse outcomes. There’s a lot of data to suggest that’s true — but also a lot to suggest that the reason it’s happening is because Americans live more dangerous lives, not because they get worse treatment.

Finally, there’s the notion that the only alternative to America’s healthcare system is a single-payer model of the type used in the U.K. and Canada. In reality, however, many countries around the world manage to cover their populations without turning healthcare over entirely to the government.

Can America develop a better healthcare system? A good start would be understanding what’s really going on with the one we already have.

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[warfjm]

This topic could easily be a multi-part video series.

[WillPanic]

"What kind of healthcare system does the United States have?"

Yes.

[wifibum]

Commenting for the algorithm. And I love this channel as well ❤

[ymnizew]

I like this video, but my only problem is that in countries like Germany and Switzerland that have private health insurance the government is a huge player in healthcare. In both nations require that private health insurance must be not-for-profit, the government sets prices for hospitals rather than the market, and a lot of people still have financial problems when getting care.

[kellylen]

A good attempt at trying to summarizing the complexities of the US system. ISPOR - The professional society for health economics and outcomes research, has a 4 hour short course on the US healthcare system and how decisions are made. This course is taught by payers. It is also a misconception that the US is the only country without price regulation. Germany has free pricing for the first year a drug is on the market. Other countries have health technology assessment (HTA) bodies to help make decisions around pricing and reimbursement. I also like your comment that there is no true single payer system. Every system is public and private. Each province in Canada has a different payer and wait time (thus not single system), and there is a large private system as well.

[mansticks]

America has lower life expectancy than many other countries because it isn’t a country. It’s many countries. North Dakota has numbers similar to those of Scandinavian countries. But the south side of Chicago is effectively a third world country. So are parts of Philadelphia, Baltimore and L.A. Some areas of what used to be our southern border are, for practical purposes extensions of Mexico or Honduras. Switzerland has more guns per capita than most American states but vanishingly small rates of homicide. The difference? It’s full of Swiss people. Health care does not make people healthy. Healthy behavior makes people healthy.

[christopherputnam]

This is why a single payer system is the answer for most every health care issue; guidelines of operation and billing would be referable instantly. Just as the current chaos promotes ineffectiveness a single payer would simplify the system and insure a cogent and effective application of care. It is a simple solution.

[tabrown]

That’s because Pelosi said let’s pass it and figure out the details later! Yep. She actually said that!

[bobweiram]

America has the highest smoking death rate, yet many of those countries listed have much higher rates of smoking. Go figure.

[NAUM]

The auto accidents and homicides play a huge role in why our life expectancy is lower, because if it was evened out with the rest of the countries, the US wouldn't be an outlier but with the rest of the pack. And truly, those two can't be blamed on our healthcare but other factors like street design and access to weapons.

[AslansMane]

The Swiss system seems to make the most sense.
If only America had a congress. Then we could pass laws.

[Hunterchuck]

I love how this video is trying really hard to shift the blame away from greedy behaviors of the American system by trying to Einstein it and make it seem like it's just too complicating for us peasants to understand. Guy in video, you're forgetting the rest of the world and how they are doing things. We have the internet at our fingertips and can see the stark contrast of prices and availability of these other countries versus America.

[MrPathorn]

Way to avoid fixing the problem man.
"Healthcare is bad because we have more unhealthy people"
And not the "UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE = LONG WAIT TIME" Argument again :\