There has been talk that the United States healthcare system needs to be revamped. This post goes into two different takes on the U.S. healthcare system:
1) Viewpoint the first - The U.S. has the best healthcare in the world; just look at these stats-
-Men and women in the U.S. survive cancer at a rate of 65% (in England it's 46%)
-93% of those diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. receive treatment within six months (in Canada only 43% do, and in the U.K. only 15% do)
-Seniors needing hip replacement get one within six months in the U.S. 90% of the time (in Canada only 43% do, and in the U.K. only 15% do)
-There are 71 MRI and CT scanners available in the U.S. per million people (in Canada there are 18 per million and in the U.K. there are only 14)
-11.7% of seniors in the U.S. with low incomes say they are in excellent health (in Canada only 5.8% of similar seniors say that)
-Basically, this viewpoint says socialized healthcare is great for when you break a bone or have a cold, but if you have a serious ailment, you are in trouble
2) Viewpoint the second - The U.S. healthcare system is broken; just look at these stats-
-The U.S. spends 15.4% of GDP on healthcare (the U.K. spends 8.1%, Canada spends 9.8%, France spends 10.5%, Spain spends 8.1%, and Europe as a whole spends 9.6%)
-The U.S. has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people (the U.K. has 2.3, Canada has 2.1, France has 3.4, Spain has 3.3, and Europe as a whole has 3.9)
-The U.S. has 3.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people(the U.K. has 4.2, Canada has 3.6, France has 7.5, Spain has 3.8, and Europe as a whole has 6.6)
-The average age in the U.S. is 78.2 years(in the U.K. it is 79.4, in Canada it is 80.6, in France it is 80.6, in Spain it is 81, and in Europe as a whole it is 81.15)
-Basically, this viewpoint says that U.S. citizens are incurring an invisible healthcare tax by spending a higher amount of their GDP than other countries and must get ill more often than any other country in the West in order to achieve the stat of being the 41st longest living nation on earth; further uninsured individuals can end up with $5,000 emergency room bills for what should be a $50 office visit - thus, something must be broken
I personally think that there is truth to both sides of the argument, but I don't know what can be done to keep our high quality of healthcare while reducing the systems costs for the population as a whole and achieving a longer average age of living.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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And whatever is broken the government has the ability to make worse... if the military healthcare system is any indication. In my youth and early adulthood I was a military dependent (23 1/2 yrs) In those days civilian ER's had lesser wait times, you could get an appt much sooner at a civilian doctor, and you would get a doctor appropriate to your needs... my first pregnancy I saw a dermitologist for the entire time. Officers wives saw a GP, there was NO OB/Gyn. Now I have learned that the military farms out to civilian doctors any and all dependent care - Tricare - possible. We had many good doctors and corpsmen and nurses and TONS of red tape and hoops to jump thru. Miss an appt and you couldn't get another one for two weeks... even if you were there early and it was a records snafu that held you up. We were having 6-8 hour waits in the ER when the rest of the world (civilians) refused to believe such a thing was happening - it was propaganda to hide the unfair benefits military families received - commissaries, base exchanges and FREE health care... my dad spent a year in Viet Nam as part of qualifying for that FREE health care. The 60's and 70's were very "us" vs "them" when it came to military and civilians near military installations. I have to believe that government run healthcare would have all the rules, regulations and limitations that I grew up with - and then some since it would be on a far grander scale! Charges are all out of proportion, insurance knocks a % off the top automatically so doctors and facilities inflate the prices. I have been very fortunate in having doctors that acknowledge that fact and take a third or more off my bill because I have no insurance. In a government run system there is less latitude and if there is a sliding scale, the hoops and red tape appear. I had 5 children, a monthly income of $865 and while the state would help my children with medical, I did not qualify because my income was over 800/mo. I wish I was making it up. They presupposed that I was getting food stamps and rent and/or utilities assistance and would NOT accept proof that I was NOT getting any of the above. So the kids got free lunch at school, dshs healthcare and I just stayed healthy, found a job that paid more although I could not find one with insurance, I had been at home 20 years, no work history ;-}
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