Really? Then the healthcare system here in Finland must be communism, and it's still working a lot better. I think I heard just recently that our healthcare system is the most cost-efficient one in the world. Either that, or it's really close to the top.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Some way it has to be paid for. I agree just like everyone the United States health care system sucks. My stance is with Ron Paul. We have to remove government restrictions as much as possible. For example, why should someone have to go to school for eight years to treat common problems? That is part of the reason why it is so expensive here.

Inelastic demand and a view that health is a privilege as opposed to a right.

I cannot go without my medication, I would die in 3-4 days. They raise the price and I pay it.  

I get really annoyed by people who whine about "I pay in and I don't get to use my insurance".  I will trade you every day to not have to put up with my condition I've had since I was a little girl.  

As long as drugs are produced in India for 1 cent per unit and then shipped and sold in the US for 1-1000$ per unit while other counties only pay 10-50 cent for the exact same drug from the exact same production line, something is wrong with the system.

"Guys! The house is on fire! We need to put it out! Someone grab the gasoline!"

Just sue the firemen who use gasoline to harm your property. Property rights you know.....

My professor, a practicing doctor, put it like this:

In other countries, they practice preventative medicine. People go to the doctor for free, the doctor finds a growth, does a biopsy and excision, follows it up, and it ends up as a relatively inexpensive experience. In the United States, people can't afford to go to the doctor and they put it off. When they're finally so sick that they have no choice, they go to the doctor and find out they have full blown metastasized cancer. This results in extended hospital stays, surgery, radiation treatments, and insanely expensive drug therapy. Not only does the price tag balloon into hundreds of thousands of dollars but, after all that, the odds are much higher that the patient dies, anyway.

Why?

Because some people are so worried that others might "get something for free" that they're willing to have higher costs across the board.

I find it funny most Americans look down on universal health care while in the mean time
http://www.king5.com/news/investigations/side-effects/millions-of-americans-find-drug-savings-in-canada/353652883
However some Canadians also travel to the US to avoid wait times.

It all comes down to how as a society you want to treat all people. In the US the idea to take care of your own problems is a prevalent one, why should you pay for someone else's conditions. While in other countries government has more say into what the basic standard of healthcare should be.

Yet what baffles me is why pharmaceutical companies waste money on commercials. Ask your doctor about ..., wtf is that.

Obamacare was not really dysfunctional.

It had issues because it was sabotaged by Republicans from 2012 until 2017 and still managed to slash filings for bankrupcy by 50% (which were overwhelmingly by medical bills). http://time.com/money/4765443/obamacare-bankruptcy-decline/

It could've saved US $2.6 trillion if it remained the same as of 2016 and we could've saved more if it was backed by everyone. http://fortune.com/2016/06/21/us-health-care-costs/

Remember that most red states refused to expand Medicaid. A political act no matter what people say.