A Persistent Question

The Daily Howler has a tendency to settle on a theme and then bang on it for a quite a little while. Sometimes it's annoying but right now, it's asking a pretty good question.

Total spending on health care, per person, 2007:
United States: $7290
Japan: $2581

. . . In fact, the Japanese system provides health care at vastly lower cost! Per capita, the Japanese spends barely one-third what we Americans do! But last Thursday, readers of the New York Times didn’t wonder why that is. Arnquist seemed to work rather hard to keep that fact from their view.

On a per capita basis, the United States spends vastly more than other developed nations. Again and again, we’ve marveled at the way the mainstream press seems to keep hiding this fact. The spending data are simply stunning—and readers are constantly shielded from them.

Yeah it's worth thinking about. Why are Japanese paying less for better care?