Much of the cause of the high cost of care in the US is not social, or political, or demographic, but economic:
The single biggest line item in the US healthcare budget is hospital care
The price of hospital care (as measured by cost of inpatient bed day, [1]) in the US is on the order of twice as high as that of France, Germany and the U.K.
The time period where the cost of US healthcare in OP article separated from other countries coincides with the increase in hospital consolidation in the US
Hospital consolidation is demonstrated to lead to increase in price without commensurate increase in care [2]
There are other factors as well, but this is probably the single biggest cause of high US healthcare cost, and it's almost never discussed
> The price of hospital care (as measured by cost of inpatient bed day, [1]) in the US is on the order of twice as high as that of France, Germany and the U.K.
And why do you think that is? Everything is political, including economics.
the articles i linked suggest it is in part because of hospital / health system consolidation leading to higher negotiating power. i think that is an economic factor, although i think i can see where you are coming from
i assume youre suggesting that having a single payer would balance out the negotiating dynamic? that could certainly be the case. to be pedantic, if the US does get a single payer system, one could argue that the political act of creating a single payer system is driven by economic factors (local provider monopolies increase cost of care, payers adopt high deductible plans in response, people suffer financially as a result, therefore vote with their wallets)
i dont think politics supersedes economics or vice versa, theyre very intertwined
The single biggest line item in the US healthcare budget is hospital care
The price of hospital care (as measured by cost of inpatient bed day, [1]) in the US is on the order of twice as high as that of France, Germany and the U.K.
The time period where the cost of US healthcare in OP article separated from other countries coincides with the increase in hospital consolidation in the US
Hospital consolidation is demonstrated to lead to increase in price without commensurate increase in care [2]
There are other factors as well, but this is probably the single biggest cause of high US healthcare cost, and it's almost never discussed
Good article with historical context here: https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-peri...
1: http://www.who.int/choice/country/country_specific/en/
2: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2012/06/the-impact-...