...in OECD countries, as of 2004 (the latest stats I can find for free), according to the Congressional Research Service :

Got that? The good old U.S. of A. is already the worlds fourth biggest public-spender on health-care - trailing only a handful of European countries with a combined population well under that of greater Chicago.

Of course, our measly $2728 per capita per year covers less than half of our population. While, from what I hear, France's munificent $2477 per capita per year covers pretty much everybody.

* * * * *

So what's up with our existing public health-care system? Why hasn't it, through its delightful combination of public-spiritedness and administrative savings, long ago consigned all private competition to the dustbin of history?

And just exactly how much more (?!) money does it need, to provide Americans with European-style coverage at European-style prices?

Just wondering...

* * * * *

*This is PUBLIC health care spending only. For some strange reason that...ummm...entirely escapes me...ummm...

...where was I?

...the Congressional Research Service does not report these figures directly. You have to work them out for yourself. But it's easy enough: just go to Table 1 and multiply "Health care spending per capita" by "Percentage of health care publicly financed."