Okay, so if the % of our GDP that's devoted to healthcare is 15% and the average among the other industrialized nations (with socialized healthcare) is around 10%, what accounts for the extra 5%?
I know the US has the highest obesity rate in the world, and while that's not trivial, I don't think that can account for that extra 5%. An extra 5% of GDP—especially American GDP—is huge. So it has to be something larger.
What about general consumption of America? Isn't America the largest source of consumption? Don't we consume way more than other nations? One counter-argument is that we spend more in other areas too, so that should keep the GDP % in check. However, healthcare is one of the most premium goods, and I bet our consumption of the most premium goods is even waay further out there than other industrialized nations.
I want you to do a thought experiment. How would the health care debate sound like if there was no corporate lobby?
Right now, popular opinion in favor of universal health care is around 54%. If there was no lobbying by the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies and any other corporate lobbies, what do you estimate the percentage of support would be? I bet it would be around 75-85%.
The argument for a health care system that is like every other industrialized nation is really strong. The argument for the status quo, on the other hand, is very weak.
And yet, the status quo has such an unfair advantage. The burden of proof on reform is needlessly high.
For example, the corporate propaganda machine put out this chart:
That made the news rounds for about two weeks. But then only recently did I hear someone ask the question, "make the chart for the existing health care system." See, there's just way better propaganda out there opposing health care reform. You tune into conservative talk radio and the news, all you hear is the same old god-damn party line. They are incredibly organized.
So take whatever sense of confidence you have about your opposition to health care reform, and cut in half. Because half of it represents the distortion effect.
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