Everyone needs to go the hospital at some point in their lives, but did you know everything about the healthcare system in this country? I’m going to say that you don’t, so I thought I would share with you some interesting things you didn’t know about our healthcare.

$18,000 Overnight Costs
According to the Obama Care website, one overnight stay in a hospital in this country will cost, on average, $18,000. Stay three nights and you’ve spent the equivalent of a college education in some places. This is a sickening amount, considering in some European countries like Britain and Sweden, it will cost you $0. Literally nothing. Thank God for insurance.

50% of Procedures are Useless
Medicine evolves at such a rate that many of the procedures get disproved or become obsolete in the face of safer more efficient ones, however it seems that doctors are a very stubborn bunch and will continue to stick to their useless (and sometimes harmful) procedures out of pure pig-headedness.

$750 Billion Wasted
It is estimated that 30% of every dollar spent on the American healthcare system is actually wasted, meaning it adds up to the mind-bogglingly high amount of $750 billion a year. Fun fact: the US government spent that on the Iraq war… just let that sink in.

400,000 Medical Error Deaths
Medicine is an extremely difficult science to master and as such, many people die from human errors caused by doctors. I knew this, however I didn’t realize the number is as high a number as 400,000. Don’t blame the doctors, though, they do an incredible job, and death is inevitable when trying to save lives. Here is a breakdown of the top three causes of death in this country:

1. Heart Disease
2. Cancer
3. Medical Errors

Cancer Survival is Higher than in Europe
Now for some good news on this article: people survive cancer a lot more in America than Europe! It’s sad that the mortality rate is higher in Europe, and no one really knows why. For a really scary statistic (for Brits, anyway), a British man with prostate cancer is 604% more likely to die than an American man with prostate cancer. There are lots of charitable campaigns in the UK to get men to speak up about issues like this, so that could be a factor; maybe we talk more about health issues.

Less Waiting Times
More good news! Americans wait on average 50% less than people in the UK and Canada to be seen by a doctor.

Not All Doom and Gloom
As this article showed, there is a lot wrong with our healthcare, however, there is also a lot right with it and our doctors and nursing staff are constantly trying to improve themselves by taking Master’s in Public Health degrees and other courses that will give them the edge they need to continue saving lives. Our health service isn’t perfect and it may be expensive, but I’m very, very thankful we have it.