>One key element is that the government sets low prices for pharmaceuticals and technology, causing manufacturers to put on their thinking caps and come up with innovative inexpensive solutions. As a result, Japan is teeming with MRI and CT scanners but they still spend less than everybody else. I will leave it to conspiracy theorists to deduce why this experience never seems to receive prominent attention when people discuss healthcare funding. ;-)

...as it was the conspiracy practitioners who induced this practice of informing the public in a selective way.

And yes, we had some experience with the Japanese system. My son-in-law was in rather bad shape while on trip there, and his meds weren't doing him much good. Went to the nearest GP, by directions of the hotel receptionist, and got the expensive bundle prescribed by his US doctor replaced with simple Lassix and one more OTC med, and went back to normal by the time they got home. Cost? About the cost of one lunch.