According to Harvard Business School the US the home for new drugs.  That is why hudreds of people don't die daily from AIDS,  any more.  The alternative to taking the US developed $60,000 Hep C drug, is paying about twice that amount per year, just to stay alive.  Folks with terminal Hep-C caused liver cancer can get a $2-million dollar transplant.  Cancer treatments cost more here.  But, according to the CDC, US's five year cancer survior rates for the top five types of cancer beat those of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan the UK.  John McCain is twice as likely to survive for five years in the US than in the UK.  Medical Care costs less in Spain.  But, rent is 90% higher and the cost of living about 50% higher in the US.  We provide more care to patients other countries simply let die.  We spend $2-billion a year keeping brain dead people from body death.  We spend millions of dollars keeping one pound fetuses alive.  Who else does that?   We do more, and it costs more.