million Americans were without health insurance in 2020. While a government-controlled system can avoid

the adverse selection problem entirely by providing at least basic health insurance for all, another option is to

mandate that all Americans buy health insurance from some provider by preventing providers from denying

individuals based on preexisting conditions. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act adopted this

approach, which we will discuss later on in this chapter.

Health Care

Country

Spending per

Person

Life Expectancy at

Life Expectancy at

Infant Mortality Rate (Male &

Birth (Male)

Birth (Female)

Female), per 1,000

United

States

$10,948

Germany

$6,731

France

$5,564

Canada

$5,370

United

Kingdom

$5,268

75.5

79.0

79.2

80.0

78.4

80.2

83.7

85.3

84.2

82.4

5.7

3.2

3.5

4.4

3.7

TABLE 16.2 A Comparison of Health Care Spending per Person, Life Expectancy at Birth, and Infant Mortality,

2020 (Source: 2020 OECD study and World Fact Book)
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