In 2014 American spent $3 trillion for health care bills, more than the next ten biggest spenders combined (Japan, Germany, France, China, the UK, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and Australia).
In the US: 31.5 MRI machines per one million people (the extra money produces no better, and in many cases worse, results)
In the UK: 5.9 per one million people
American spend $17 billion/year on artificial knees and hips, and $85.9 billion/year on treating back pain (half of that is unnecessary).
An open-heart surgery to fix an aortic aneurysm costs $190,000.
$451 for each X-ray photo of the heart patient's chest
A hospital CEO in New York earns $3.58 million/year. The UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) CEO's salary: more than $500 million/year.
The same hospital charges patients $77 for a box of gauze pads or hundreds of dollars for a routine blood test.
Source: Steven Brill. "What I Learned from My $190,000 Surgery." Time (January 19, 2015), pp. 34-43.
