> The net effect is predictable - Canada consistently ranks very poorly in international health system comparisons.
Funny that despite this 'extreme example', Canadians have almost 3 years longer life expectancy than us in the US, are healthier throughout their lives, and have comparable or better outcomes with treatments. Where the US has better outcomes (e.g. - some forms of cancer, some organ transplants), it's only very marginally better (like 1% higher chance of surviving 5 years after colon cancer diagnosis when compared to Canada). And for that 1%, you're spending MUCH more money on your treatment.
Basically nearly every measured outcome is better in Canada rather than the US, despite US paying twice as much on healthcare costs per capita when compared to Canada.
> We have far fewer ICU beds, doctors, imaging machines, etc. per capita than peer nations, and the entire country is in varying degrees of harsh lockdown because our hospitals were already overwhelmed during a normal flu season.
That may all be true, yet it's still better care than what the average US citizen gets, despite paying twice as much per capita.
> What states should do is encourage more competition as a way to lower healthcare costs.
They've been trying to 'encourage more competition' for decades now with healthcare costs only continuing to climb while affordable access falls (ignoring the gains that came and went with ACA). "Competition" doesn't exist in industries that are nearly impossible to enter due to regulatory capture and the insane entrenchment of giant healthcare organizations. The few that succeed in making any progress at all get rapidly acquired.
Reality is that no-system is perfect, there will be complaints and tradeoffs. But the US system is broken for a huge proportion of residents, and it's not going to change without drastic measures. I'm all for torching the whole thing and trying single payer. There may be complains about single payer systems across the world, but according to most of the publications I've seen (probably all, but my memory is imperfect), the vast majority of those subject to it would never trade it for what the US has.
Basic healthcare access in 'the richest country in the world' should be a fundamental right, not a for-profit industry.