Why the cost of healthcare can get so expensive | ABC News

Depending on where you live, your treatment could be free or cost hundreds of dollars.

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Different countries choose to approach health care in different ways. But one thing a lot of them have in common is that they provide universal coverage, like in Australia. That means all their citizens have affordable access to healthcare.

Should countries be spending more to help the poor access healthcare? The US spends the most on healthcare as a share of the economy and per capita, but it’s ranked low on both life expectancy and infant mortality rates. The private sector is what drives up costs in the US, because the country doesn’t have universal health coverage.

Countries like Cuba and the UK spend less on healthcare as part of the economy, and they also have relatively better outcomes. But the UK also controls access to drugs in the country, which means certain treatments aren’t available because they haven’t been deemed cost-effective.

RESOURCES
OECD data:



The World Bank data:


The Commonwealth Fund data:



Health insurance coverage in the US (US Census Bureau):


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