> In most developed nations outside America, a doctor's opinion carries more administrative weight. In America, the insurance company and their payment policies carry more weight than the doctor's decisions.

No, in most developed nations other than the US, the doctor has approximately the same power that they do in the US.

The difference is that, under capitated systems or systems like the NHS (which is not actually capitated yet, but functions more or less like it is), the doctor factors the cost into their decision-making process. That might sound like a good thing for patients, but it's generally not - it means they have an incentive to avoid unnecessary care, but they also have a very direct incentive to bias on the side of avoiding necessary care as well, to avoid eating into their budget.

This is absolutely a problem with the NHS, although Hacker News readers tend not to be the demographics that suffer from it the most, so you don't hear about it as much here.

> in America, if you get hurt, you need a lawyer almost a badly as you need a doctor

I get that this is intended to be hyperbole, but even on that scale, it's absurd.