The Socialist Paradise of Sweden … Or Not

A nice little diatribe from the Socialist Paradise of Sweden (ranked 4th in healthcare performance by WHO but only 22nd in bang-for-buck due to the cost).

In 1975, for instance, most Swedish doctors averaged nine consultations per day. Today, that number has plummeted to four. Much of this drop is the result of burdensome administrative tasks, as doctors now devote 80 percent of their time to paperwork. Needless to say, this greatly impacts the availability of care.

Doctors and health care staff across Europe also receive far less in pay than U.S. medical staff, as salaries are paid by the state and therefore used as a tool to cut costs. As a result, the United States attracts the world’s most competent doctors.

Further, European governments ration drugs to cut costs. Between 1998 and 2002, for instance, 85 new drugs were introduced in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, there were only 44 new drug launches in Europe.

In other words, European governments haven’t figured out a way to deliver health care for less money — they’ve simply figured out a way to ration care.

There are things we can do—malpractice reform, more nurse practitioners, generics, better consumers—to reduce the cost of care in America. But even then, we might be talking about $5100 per capita instead of $5700, not $250. And even then, I’m dubious we could cut our national health bill per se. The response of consumers to lower costs is greater consumption. We are producing and using energy more efficiently than ever and Americans are consuming more. The low price of TVs means one in every room. The low price of food means an obese nation.  And if MRIs get cheaper, we’ll just start getting them every time we kick a soccer ball wrong.

Historically, the only way to really cut costs is rationing.  Because—and I hate to keep repeating this, but it needs to be ingrained into our political culture—it’s always cheap to die.

Update: I hadn’t realized Lee posted the same article earlier.  Doh!