> Do you assume that if the US covered everyone, it would be cheaper? Would be great if you could clarify :)
Yes, that's exactly true. A lot of countries cover everyone, at a far lower cost per capita. Universal healthcare lowers costs. The evidence simply isn't on the side of the libertarian argument. Universal healthcare has been tried, in many, many countries, and it works just fine.
There isn't a single country you can point to, including and especially the United States, that has "free market" healthcare and gets better outcomes at lower cost than universal healthcare countries.
Universal healthcare doesn't necessarily lower costs - countries that have universal healthcare also tend to pay less for healthcare. Correlation does not equal causation, especially since the arrow arguably goes in the other direction here - in other words, the US would have universal health care if our costs were in line with other first world countries. If that second possibility is the case, implementing universal healthcare in the US might be ruinously expensive...
As for better outcomes, I think that depends on how you define "better" - if I'm remembering correctly the US is still at the top for "healthcare outcomes of the rich and powerful". That's a different criteria, and probably the one most important to the people with the ability to cause change - namely, the rich and powerful!
Yes, that's exactly true. A lot of countries cover everyone, at a far lower cost per capita. Universal healthcare lowers costs. The evidence simply isn't on the side of the libertarian argument. Universal healthcare has been tried, in many, many countries, and it works just fine.
There isn't a single country you can point to, including and especially the United States, that has "free market" healthcare and gets better outcomes at lower cost than universal healthcare countries.