I will remain with this opinion, the US government should not be providing universal health care. Assistance with poor families that can't otherwise get healthcare through state agencies, on a limited basis.

The American People have an entitlement problem. Everyone feels entitled to get something from the government. Too many people have their hand out expecting Uncle Sam to be the one providing money, jobs, healthcare, whatever. We have lost the perspective that each person is responsible for their own. Is it hard? Hell yes it is hard. This entitlement belief is adding to why kids don't learn in school.

The only thing the federal government MUST provide is protection from invaders. Most everything else in the US Constitution are things that the federal government can not do.

With whom does that data disagree with? I've been saying all along we're paying shit and not getting anything from it. More reason to cut it. From what krby was saying I wouldn't be surprised if he agreed that the US is paying through the teeth and not getting a lot in return.

I'm also still searching for anywhere that someone claimed the US has the best healthcare system in the world.

The only country that's surprising from that chart is Japan. Their population is still 1/3rd~ of the US, but that's a large amount of people to base a universal healthcare system around. The fact that they're pulling it off is also impressive. Other than that, you have a bunch of smaller countries that can do it. Yippee, that's exactly the same as doing it with 300 million people in a bureaucratic mess of a falling empire facing a debt crisis!

I'm also still searching for anywhere that someone claimed the US has the best healthcare system in the world.

No system has been perfected thus far, even in smaller nations with more money to spend per person(Hail, bureaucratized 300 million people). Large lines for simple procedures or waiting weeks for a simple doctor visit when you can get an appointment less than an hour away here doesn't make much sense either.

It's far from perfect in the US, but there are still advantages. I can tell you I've seen a fair share of Canadians in Seattle lining up outside hospitals, and it no longer raises my eyebrow when I hear it happening elsewhere in the US.

Yeah.. Germany's 82 million people is a drop in the bucket; and Japan's population is 128 million, a decent chunk larger than 1/3.

You implied that nations with universal health care had inferior outcomes to the US. I provided data to dispute that. You can either agree that the US system sucks ass or you can dispute it with data.

Also, is that report card from the "Conference Board of Canada" really considered "data"? No offense, but if I had to pick out a biased source, it would be from the government of one of the nations that has been one of the most outspoken advocates of universal healthcare. Especially given some of the rivalry between the US and Canada on this issue(note the fact that they point out the differences in healthcare on their website between the two specifically).

Needless to say, I'm not surprised that there's no statistic on their chart for "best healthcare that money can actually buy". I'd venture to guess that US would be an A to Canada's D on that one. I'll take it.

Quite a few of those metrics have to do with individual choice, not the health care system. We have a lot of chubby smokers in the US. It's not the hospital's fault they cannot save them from themselves.