That's not really an example of the issue mentioned:

> "Having known several friends who got committed and held against their will in psych wards when there was no good reason to, because their insurance was good, this is an issue."

This is pretty much specific to the US (in developed countries). It would be impossible in Portugal.

Basically, the only advantage of American healthcare is that if pays for innovation better than others. The world benefits from it, Americans suffer due to it. As long as they're happy, good for them.

If the government is paying the facility to continue holding/treating the “patient”, I don’t see how it’s in any meaningful way different nor impossible in Portugal.

The way the fraud works is different. In the US it is their insurance is good, keep them in. In Portugal everyone has the same insurance so it is keep our faucility as full as possible, only releasing just enough people to make it appear like we are doing something.

I have no idea what fraud occurs. In either system. I know enough humans to know that some are honest and some are not. Thus if it is possible to get away with fraud odds are someone is.

The government doesn't pay the facility, it runs the facility.

It certainly creates its own set of problems, but not that one.

According to the first hits on google, roughly half of Portugal's hospitals are private.

Number of hospitals are not a relevant measure, since all the major hospitals are public. Here are more relevant measures: 70% of the hospitalizations and 73% of urgent care occur in public hospitals.

I don't have the numbers for psychiatric hospitalizations, but I would guess the number is higher than 70%.