Should the doc fix get fixed?

Primary care doctors in the United States earn just over $186,000, about $20,000 more than any colleagues abroad. The disparity is even greater among specialists: Orthopedic surgeons here have an average salary of $442,450, which is just about double what other developed nations pay the same medical professionals. Here’s what all that looks like in a chart from the Commonwealth Fund, which uses OECD data:



We pay more for doctors, but we don’t necessarily get better health outcomes. That same Commonwealth Fund survey found that the United States lagged on a number of health-care measures, from how long patients wait to see a specialist to life expectancy.

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