How Bad Is America’s Healthcare Crisis?



Correct answers are bolded.

1. How many more Americans are uninsured than 30 years ago?

→ 13 million
→ 24 million: About 23 million in 1979, 47 million now
→ 35 million
→ 46 million
→ 57 million

2. How much more do Americans pay per capita each year for healthcare than Swedes?

→ $1500
→ $2500
→ $3500: Swedes pay $3200 each, we pay $6710 in public and private funds
→ $4500
→ $5500

3. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that in 2082 American healthcare costs will be what percentage of GDP?

→ 40%
→ 60%
→ 80%
→ 100%
→ 120%
→ 180%

4. In what year are health insurance premium costs projected to surpass average household income?

→ 2026
→ 2046
→ 2066
→ 2086
→ 3006
→ Never

5. Which country among these has both the lowest life expectancy and highest infant mortality rates?

→ U.S.: Life expectancy–77.8, Infant mortality–6.7 per 1000
→ Canada: 79.1 and 5.4
→ Australia: 4.7
→ Italy: 80.9 and 3.9
→ Germany: 79.8 and 3.8
→ France: 80.9 and 3.8
→ Sweden: 80.8 and 2.8

6. Since 1970, the number of physicians in the U.S. has grown by what percentage?

→ 0%
→ 100%
→ 300%
→ 500%
→ 1000%
→ 3000%

7. Since 1970, the number of hospital administrators in the U.S. has grown by what percentage?

→ 0%
→ 100%
→ 300%
→ 500%
→ 1000%
→ 3000%: !

8. Which of these proposed healthcare or health insurance reforms would you support? Check all that apply.

  • A full single-payer system modeled on those found in Canada, Britain, and much of Europe
  • A vigorous public option that would effectively contain healthcare costs
  • A weaker public option or coop plan that would at least insure at least some currently uninsured Americans
  • A plan that would require Americans to buy insurance through existing private health insurers
  • Any plan
  • No plan currently under discussion
  • A plan to would cover abortions
  • One that would cover undocumented workers
  • One that would provide death panels

We’ll report results from this survey in an upcoming article.


  1. Hal Hurst says

    First, I support universal healthcare. Second, I feel that you need to think more carefully about what claims make sense.

    When we assume straight-line trends and extrapolate answers such as #3 and #4 we are making a big mistake and losing credibility. A situation in which the cost of health care could exceed the GDP is impossible on the face of it and makes anyone who makes such a claim look like a fool. Healthcare can never become 100% of GDP, since we would all starve before this could happen. Real-world situations are bad enough, but these rates follow a curve, not a straight line.

    If you time me eating 1/6 of a pie and a cup of coffee in 10 minutes you might assume I eat three pies and over a gallon of coffee in three hours. In reality the situation changes with each piece.

    As Mark Twain once pointed out, there are three types of lies: Plain lies, Damned lies, and Statistics. Let’s be careful, and keep our credibility: take a reality check from time to time.

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