because in america at least, the supply of doctors is kept artificially low. that combined with exploding administrative headcount, means patients are getting pretty terrible, expensive service.

Physician compensation is around 9% of healthcare spending. The number of non-physician providers (NPs, PAs and specialists like physical therapists and podiatrists) has also exploded over the last 20 years. We have far more overall providers per capita than we did 20 years ago.

Lack of providers isn’t what’s driving up costs.