Chart of the Day

Responding to a healthcare post, reader OBloodyHell recently commented about the level of U.S. spending:

We CHOOSE to spend more. There's no Health Authority out there holding a gun to anyone's head and "making" anyone spend more. The level of medical attention -- and the level of technology applied to it -- is VASTLY more than we've spent in the past.

And we do make that choice as much because we can as because we want to. People want to be active longer in their lives, so they actually GET knee-joint replacements in their 80s (Yes, *80s* -- I know someone who did exactly that), something unheard of at any age a mere 50 years ago.

That ain't cheap -- not to develop the ability, nor to implement it.

The McKinsey Global Institute recently quantified healthcare spending among some OECD nations:


source: McKinsey charts, page 2

Some of McKinsey's data are questionable--for example, their page 4 already has been rebutted here and here.