The graph below shows the relationship between what a country spends on health per person and life expectancy in that country between 1970 and 2015 for a number of rich countries.
The US stands out as an outlier: it spends far more on health than any other country, yet the life expectancy of the American population is not longer, but actually shorter than in other countries that spend far less.
If we look at the time trend for each country, we first notice that all countries have followed an upward trajectory—the population lives increasingly long lives as health expenditure increases. But again, the US stands out by following a much flatter trajectory: gains in life expectancy from additional health spending in the U.S. are much smaller than in the other high-income countries, particularly since the mid-1980s.
Madison spent 25% of it’s 2014-2015 budget on benefits…