In his long rhetorical war against the Affordable Care Act, Avik Roy
likes to hold up Singapore's healthcare system as a shining
counter-example. He quite rightly points out that Singapore spends far less on healthcare than the U.S. (4% of
GDP vs. 18% for the U.S.), and with better
outcomes. How do they do it? Roy -- while acknowledging one aspect of the government's heavy hand -- credits free-market magic:
The key to the Singapore system is mandatory health savings accounts: again, something that libertarians and many conservatives wouldn't like. Matt Miller of the Center for American Progress describes Singapore as "further to the left and further to the right" than the American system--something that could also be said of Switzerland.
