Sarah,
Does this article match up with your understanding?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...8/b4042070.htm
A key point there is that doctors make less money but are ok with that due to having free schooling and less need for malpractice insurance.
In the US there is a huge difference between what doctors and facilities charge privately vs Medicare/Medicaid.
In essence, non-government payment keeps government programs afloat. And I wonder whether studies of new tx might decrease if big pharma doesn't see potential windfalls to offfset the failures. They seem to depend on the relative lack of price controls in the US to offset agreements with price control countries.
Ah...anyways..I think the issue inherently involves a lot of economic and cultural entanglements and deserves serious discussion before moving ahead.
Here's a pretty detailed article on the French system:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9994.php
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