Longer life at half the cost

The blog Our World in Data compares life expectancy to health expenditure for about 20 wealthy countries. America has a spot on the chart all by itself. We spend over $9000 per person per year for a life expectancy of 79. The closest to us is Switzerland with a cost of $6800 and life expectancy of 83. The best is Japan with a cost of $4200 and life expectancy of 83.5. Why does Japan get an extra four years at half the cost?

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Though the article doesn’t mention it, I’m sure part of the difference is diet – the Japanese diet is much more healthy than the American diet. On to things the article does say: Administrative costs in America are much higher – we have to pay a profit to all those insurance companies. In America there is a large inequality in spending. Some people have a great deal of access to medical services and some have limited access, which affects costs when these people finally seek treatment and affects life expectancy.