a. s. mathew (October 25, 2013)
Contd:2 etc. The U.S. population which is 5% of the world population consume more than 50% of the pain killers prescribed in the world. The modern medical devices are very expensive for the average patients and the doctors for getting commission will order tests for many unnecessary things (I am not talking about all the doctors, but the vast majority are doing the same thing of unnecessary ordering of testing). The cost of standard medication for high blood pressure etc would be about 1/10 of the cost if we buy from Mexico. The medical industry as a monopolistic competition performed like a united front of hospitals-doctors and pharmaceutical companies, thus skyjacked the healthcare costs far worse than anything in the world. Starting next year, the U.S. medical industry is going to be faced with new challenges.

a. s. mathew (October 25, 2013)
We do visit the doctor's office five times more than the British people do; however, in the standard of the medical care, the U.S. is far behind Britain. 14% of the income is spent of healthcare, which is the highest in the world, but we spend 6% of our income on food, which is the lowest in the world. In 2012, 47 million people had no medical insurance. Even people with insurance, after a prolonged hospital stay will end up in the bankruptcy court. Before the recession was started, the biggest reason for bankruptcies was the medical bill. Canada has a national healthcare plan, the European countries have a national healthcare plan; and it is high time for the U.S. to have a national healthcare plan. This is not socialism but taking care of the sick people which is the primary duty of a rich nation like the U.S.. The U.S. healthcare industry has turned like a legal high robbery through the unnecessary battery of testing-hospitalization-over prescribing drugs contd:2