Where our numbers come from

How to read the figures

Prices are not what one patient paid. International price comparisons report the typical amount paid to hospitals and doctors for a service, usually by insurers or the public system. What a patient pays out of pocket is shown separately.

Countries measure differently. Years, currencies and definitions vary between sources. We show the year with each source, convert nothing ourselves, and avoid mixing sources inside one comparison where we can.

Waits are typical, not guaranteed. Waiting times change by region, hospital and urgency. Emergencies are treated first everywhere.

Campaign money and votes are public records. Contributions come from Federal Election Commission files and votes from the official House and Senate roll calls. We show the same fields in the same order for every member, with no party colors and no ratings.

How “health industry” is assigned. The FEC does not label committees by industry, so we do. A political action committee counts as health industry when its name or its sponsoring organization contains a word from a published list: hospitals, doctors and other health professions, drug and device makers, health insurers and named companies. Leadership committees and labor organizations are left out. The list and every committee counted are in the site’s open data files. The figures are PAC contributions only; money from individuals is not included. This method is a draft, so the dollar figures are marked as placeholders until it has been reviewed.

Corrections. Found a figure that does not match its source? Report a correction. No name or contact details needed.

Placeholders. A placeholder shows where a figure will go and roughly what kind of figure it is. Do not quote one. It is replaced only when the figure has been read on the source page itself.

Rechecks. If a figure here does not match its source, the source is right. Figures are rechecked when a source publishes a new edition, and each source shows the date it was last checked.

The sources

Every figure on the site