Kevin Drum provides a link to this excellent chart (dark blue where we spend more than expected, orange where we spend less than expected, lighter-blue what we should expect to spend adjusted relative to our economy/population/and other systems). He also helpfully cites the specific line-items that ultimately cause us to spend more on (and yet still get less from) healthcare in this country:

We pay our doctors about 50% more than most comparable countries.
We pay more than twice as much for prescription drugs, despite the fact that we use less of them than most other countries.
Administration costs are about 7x what most countries pay.
We perform about 50% more diagnostic procedures than other countries and we pay as much as 5x more per procedure.

Counting Calories

A recent study conducted in New York (with Newark serving as control) labeled menus with calorie content, and then questioned patrons whether they noticed the labels, and if they did: did they actually use them to make better choices?

As it turns out: not so much:

Those people that did notice the menu labels used them…to buy more calories. Not significant at this point, but disheartening to say the least. Sodium intake also increased.

I guess the answer is to label menus… but lie.

Ummm, huzzah for science!