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The International Federation of Health Plans has depicted our ridiculous health care system in 21 graphs.
We don't get more health care; we just pay more -- much more.

We don't get more health care; we just pay more -- much more.
And this entirely accounts for the scary long-term deficit projections. If we paid what every other advanced industrial country pays, we would project surpluses as far as the eye can see and be able to begin investing in areas vital to our future -- like educating our kids.
It's not "entitlements," "greedy geezers," the "takers," public worker salaries and pensions, teachers' unions, big government, out of control spending, or even cost of policing the world. A corrupted congress allows entrenched corporate lobbies to protect their right to rip us off. It isn't more complicated than that. Every other explanation is hogwash. Take a look at the graphs. Remember them the next time Speaker Boehner babbles about out of control spending. Or the White House floats cutting Social Security with a chained CPI. Or the various Pete Peterson fronts rail about deficits.
Want to rebuild America? Want to provide pre-school for all or affordable college? Want to get our books in order? Get the damn hogs out of the trough.
Take a look.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

We don't get more health care; we just pay more -- much more.
And this entirely accounts for the scary long-term deficit projections. If we paid what every other advanced industrial country pays, we would project surpluses as far as the eye can see and be able to begin investing in areas vital to our future -- like educating our kids.
It's not "entitlements," "greedy geezers," the "takers," public worker salaries and pensions, teachers' unions, big government, out of control spending, or even cost of policing the world. A corrupted congress allows entrenched corporate lobbies to protect their right to rip us off. It isn't more complicated than that. Every other explanation is hogwash. Take a look at the graphs. Remember them the next time Speaker Boehner babbles about out of control spending. Or the White House floats cutting Social Security with a chained CPI. Or the various Pete Peterson fronts rail about deficits.
Want to rebuild America? Want to provide pre-school for all or affordable college? Want to get our books in order? Get the damn hogs out of the trough.
Take a look.

We don't get more health care; we just pay more -- much more.
And this entirely accounts for the scary long-term deficit projections. If we paid what every other advanced industrial country pays, we would project surpluses as far as the eye can see and be able to begin investing in areas vital to our future -- like educating our kids.
It's not "entitlements," "greedy geezers," the "takers," public worker salaries and pensions, teachers' unions, big government, out of control spending, or even cost of policing the world. A corrupted congress allows entrenched corporate lobbies to protect their right to rip us off. It isn't more complicated than that. Every other explanation is hogwash. Take a look at the graphs. Remember them the next time Speaker Boehner babbles about out of control spending. Or the White House floats cutting Social Security with a chained CPI. Or the various Pete Peterson fronts rail about deficits.
Want to rebuild America? Want to provide pre-school for all or affordable college? Want to get our books in order? Get the damn hogs out of the trough.
Take a look.