Quote Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger View Post
The truth is that the vast majority of healthcare spending in the US is end of life care.
And a really shocking amount is spent on administrative overhead, both with care providers and insurers. A light touch on that subject:

In 1999, health administration costs totaled at least $294.3 billion in the United States, or $1,059 per capita, as compared with $307 per capita in Canada. After exclusions, administration accounted for 31.0 percent of health care expenditures in the United States [...] The gap between U.S. and Canadian spending on health care administration has grown to $752 per capita. A large sum might be saved in the United States if administrative costs could be trimmed by implementing a Canadian-style health care system.


So yeah, between end-of-life care and exploding administrative costs, there you have it. Those are the two big drivers of cost, so far as I can see.