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Health care spending in the US was tracking with countries like Germany, Denmark, Sweden (increasing from 6% of GDP to 8%) throgh the 70s.

After 1980 US really took off though. In 1980 US spend 8.2% of GDP, Germany 8.1%, Denmark 8.4%

By 1990 US was 11.2%, Germany and Denmark 8%

US plataued in 1993 about 12%, lasting until 2000 when it took off again, reaching 16% in 2009, then was mostly flat (slightly reducing) until 2013.

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What are you saying was the cause though? And either way, people still got healthcare and negotiated payments thinking they were close to their deathbeds prior to that era of increase.

Also 1986 was the emergency room mandate, which used Medicare payments as leverage. And of course the obesity epidemic and the low-fat diet (blaming fat for heart disease) started around then. The ACA started in 2010 but phased in over four years.

The government's 1940s intervention that ensured white collar professionals would be removed from the problems for 60yr is generally considered the root cause of the current healthcare debacle. Without it we'd likely have a system that's more akin to what's the norm internationally.

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