http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/108264/top-paying-jobs

Doctors have direct control of their monopoly (through licensing and petitioning the government to not fully fund medical schools) and let a few people in so they can keep their salaries up. I would guess this list explains about half of why we spend twice as much on healthcare as everyone else.

Any why do anesthesiologists get paid more? Their role isn't more valuable than other medical professionals. I'd imagine they get paid more because they do a lot of procedures, like dermatoglogists, and you get paid more money for a procedure than you do for a long conversation with a patient. Just one of several reasons our health care is so strange.