19 ms·

15 out of the top 50 and 4/6 top hospitals in the world are in the US: https://rankings.newsweek.com/worlds-best-hospitals-2025 https://rankings.newsweek.com/wo

by peter422 10mo ago

15 out of the top 50 and 4/6 top hospitals in the world are in the US: https://rankings.newsweek.com/worlds-best-hospitals-2025 https://rankings.newsweek.com/worlds-best-hospitals-2025 Again, I’m not saying the health care outcomes are better, or the value is better. I’m saying the hospitals are nicer, the doctors are the best, etc. Perhaps this is the wrong thing to optimize for! But we are getting something.

BeetleB 10mo ago
> 15 out of the top 50 and 4/6 top hospitals in the world are in the US Outliers do not say much about the overall quality of healthcare in a country. Rather obvious lesson in statistics. Reminds me of the Russian mathematician who moved to the US after the fall of the Soviet Union. Most of his essays were criticizing American students, but in one essay he was quite frank: Russians who graduate with math degrees are better than Americans who do so, by a wide margin. However, the average American is better at math because they still get access to some math education in university and do not need to be a top student for admission. Whereas in Russia, if you didn't meet a rather high bar, you simply couldn't get admitted as an engineering/physics/math program, and thus couldn't further your math education (I believe he said the cutoff was even before university). Country with the top mathematicians, but country with worse math outcomes.
- peter422 10mo ago
  Perhaps my language was too imprecise. My argument is that specifically the best care in the US is the best in the world. We have the best doctors and the best technology and the best treatments. This is not completely universal but it is also generally accurate. Whether or not this care is accessible or the median quality is care is good, that is different. I’m just saying we do get something for the money, it’s not like it all gets thrown down the drain. The best and brightest come to the US to get some of the huge spigots of money in the US healthcare system and it does drive innovation.
  - orwin 10mo ago
    Can't you just look at life expectancy, and life expectancy in good health? Because the data I found doesn't put the US in the top anything. Even if you're in the top decile of earners.
    - AstroBen 10mo ago
      How does that account for a population who.. ..74% are overweight or obese ..less than 10% meet the fruit and vegetable recommendations ..25% get the recommended amount of exercise ..eat more than 70g added sugar a day Healthcare really has the deck stacked against it however you look at it
      - BeetleB 10mo ago
        Your mistake is separating those items from healthcare, when it's part of it. Even in the US, many (most?) insurances and healthcare systems have programs to address all those. My HMO certainly does - I can engage with them and craft a healthy nutrition plan, and my doctor can be involved in that as well. Ditto for exercise.
  - AstroBen 10mo ago
    So you're saying the US optimizes entirely for the best of the best care, without regard for what happens to the 2nd tier? (that the majority of the population actually use)
    - peter422 10mo ago
      I think at least the median citizen in the US has very good access to the best possible care. It may or may not be affordable but you can get it. And yes, that is what I think we optimize for.
      - machomaster 10mo ago
        If care is not affordable and makes average people just one accident away from bankruptcy, then it might well not exist in calculations. This is akin to saying the USA is the richest country because it has more billionaires than any other country.
vunderba 10mo ago
Quoting you: > "The quality of health care in the US is significantly higher than anywhere else in the world." Common Wealth Study of 10 Western Countries (U.S. lags far behind the other countries) https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024 https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2... Peterson-KFF Research https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/ https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality... Numbeo Health Care Inex https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2025 https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/rankings_by_country.jsp?t... On an anecdotal basis, I relied on the Taiwanese National Health (NHI) for years and found it vastly superior in terms of quality and cost to the United States. Perhaps a more accurate claim might be: The quality of the health care system in the U.S. is unparalleled provided that you are in the 1% that can afford it.

BeetleB 10mo ago

> 15 out of the top 50 and 4/6 top hospitals in the world are in the US Outliers do not say much about the overall quality of healthcare in a country. Rather obvious lesson in statistics. Reminds me of the Russian mathematician who moved to the US after the fall of the Soviet Union. Most of his essays were criticizing American students, but in one essay he was quite frank: Russians who graduate with math degrees are better than Americans who do so, by a wide margin. However, the average American is better at math because they still get access to some math education in university and do not need to be a top student for admission. Whereas in Russia, if you didn't meet a rather high bar, you simply couldn't get admitted as an engineering/physics/math program, and thus couldn't further your math education (I believe he said the cutoff was even before university). Country with the top mathematicians, but country with worse math outcomes.

peter422 10mo ago
Perhaps my language was too imprecise. My argument is that specifically the best care in the US is the best in the world. We have the best doctors and the best technology and the best treatments. This is not completely universal but it is also generally accurate. Whether or not this care is accessible or the median quality is care is good, that is different. I’m just saying we do get something for the money, it’s not like it all gets thrown down the drain. The best and brightest come to the US to get some of the huge spigots of money in the US healthcare system and it does drive innovation.
- orwin 10mo ago
  Can't you just look at life expectancy, and life expectancy in good health? Because the data I found doesn't put the US in the top anything. Even if you're in the top decile of earners.
  - AstroBen 10mo ago
    How does that account for a population who.. ..74% are overweight or obese ..less than 10% meet the fruit and vegetable recommendations ..25% get the recommended amount of exercise ..eat more than 70g added sugar a day Healthcare really has the deck stacked against it however you look at it
    - BeetleB 10mo ago
      Your mistake is separating those items from healthcare, when it's part of it. Even in the US, many (most?) insurances and healthcare systems have programs to address all those. My HMO certainly does - I can engage with them and craft a healthy nutrition plan, and my doctor can be involved in that as well. Ditto for exercise.
- AstroBen 10mo ago
  So you're saying the US optimizes entirely for the best of the best care, without regard for what happens to the 2nd tier? (that the majority of the population actually use)
  - peter422 10mo ago
    I think at least the median citizen in the US has very good access to the best possible care. It may or may not be affordable but you can get it. And yes, that is what I think we optimize for.
    - machomaster 10mo ago
      If care is not affordable and makes average people just one accident away from bankruptcy, then it might well not exist in calculations. This is akin to saying the USA is the richest country because it has more billionaires than any other country.

vunderba 10mo ago

Quoting you: > "The quality of health care in the US is significantly higher than anywhere else in the world." Common Wealth Study of 10 Western Countries (U.S. lags far behind the other countries) https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024 https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2... Peterson-KFF Research https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/ https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality... Numbeo Health Care Inex https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2025 https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/rankings_by_country.jsp?t... On an anecdotal basis, I relied on the Taiwanese National Health (NHI) for years and found it vastly superior in terms of quality and cost to the United States. Perhaps a more accurate claim might be: The quality of the health care system in the U.S. is unparalleled provided that you are in the 1% that can afford it.