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Is US healthcare as good as we are led to believe?
Fact and Fiction: Debunking Myths in the US Healthcare System
Posted 06/06/2008
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/573877_1
An excerpt from this lengthy article"
"Myth 1: The US Healthcare System Is the Best in the World
This idea has been called the alpha myth because it is fundamentally the root of all other myths.[1] It is the straightforward belief that Americans have access to the highest quality healthcare available in the world. A different way to present this myth is to state that citizens in other countries experience long waits for healthcare, that they must rely on generalists, and that they suffer worse outcomes as a result.....
............In the year 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) dedicated its annual World Health Report to a comparison of healthcare across the globe.[4] In this exhaustive analysis, American superiority was not borne out: the United States ranked 32nd for infant survival, 24th for life expectancy, and 54th for fairness. The fairness ranking was derived from a comparison of the individual financial contribution required with the quality of healthcare received. The current US system is known as a regressive system; that is, the poor pay relatively more for healthcare. In fact, the poorest fifth of Americans spend 18% of their income on healthcare, whereas the richest fifth of Americans spend about 3%.[5] In this type of regressive system, it is clear why about 50% of personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical bills.[6] Tragically, 75% of individuals declaring medical bankruptcy had medical insurance at the onset of their illness.[6] Overall, the WHO ranked the United States 37th in the world......
Similar results were found by the Commonwealth Fund in a recently released scorecard on the performance of the US health system.[7] Outcomes in the United States were compared against those achieved by top countries or the top 10% of US states, hospitals, or other providers. The scorecard evaluated multiple indicators of health outcomes, including mortality, life expectancy, and the prevalence of health conditions that limit the capacity of adults to work or children to learn. The average ratio score for the United States was a 69 out of a possible 100.[7] The United States ranked 15th out of 19 countries with respect to preventable deaths before the age of 75, with a death rate more than 40% higher than the benchmark countries of France, Japan, and Spain. The United States ranked last in infant mortality out of 23 industrialized countries, with rates more than double the benchmark countries of Iceland, Japan, and Finland. The United States tied for last on healthy life expectancy at age 60.[7]"
I was totally unprepared for these results. I guess I had bought into the myth. This article is worth reading so, if you have the time, go to the site and read the entire article. www.medscape.com requires registration to view but it's easy and free to register.
Mike
Posted 06/06/2008
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/573877_1
An excerpt from this lengthy article"
"Myth 1: The US Healthcare System Is the Best in the World
This idea has been called the alpha myth because it is fundamentally the root of all other myths.[1] It is the straightforward belief that Americans have access to the highest quality healthcare available in the world. A different way to present this myth is to state that citizens in other countries experience long waits for healthcare, that they must rely on generalists, and that they suffer worse outcomes as a result.....
............In the year 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) dedicated its annual World Health Report to a comparison of healthcare across the globe.[4] In this exhaustive analysis, American superiority was not borne out: the United States ranked 32nd for infant survival, 24th for life expectancy, and 54th for fairness. The fairness ranking was derived from a comparison of the individual financial contribution required with the quality of healthcare received. The current US system is known as a regressive system; that is, the poor pay relatively more for healthcare. In fact, the poorest fifth of Americans spend 18% of their income on healthcare, whereas the richest fifth of Americans spend about 3%.[5] In this type of regressive system, it is clear why about 50% of personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical bills.[6] Tragically, 75% of individuals declaring medical bankruptcy had medical insurance at the onset of their illness.[6] Overall, the WHO ranked the United States 37th in the world......
Similar results were found by the Commonwealth Fund in a recently released scorecard on the performance of the US health system.[7] Outcomes in the United States were compared against those achieved by top countries or the top 10% of US states, hospitals, or other providers. The scorecard evaluated multiple indicators of health outcomes, including mortality, life expectancy, and the prevalence of health conditions that limit the capacity of adults to work or children to learn. The average ratio score for the United States was a 69 out of a possible 100.[7] The United States ranked 15th out of 19 countries with respect to preventable deaths before the age of 75, with a death rate more than 40% higher than the benchmark countries of France, Japan, and Spain. The United States ranked last in infant mortality out of 23 industrialized countries, with rates more than double the benchmark countries of Iceland, Japan, and Finland. The United States tied for last on healthy life expectancy at age 60.[7]"
I was totally unprepared for these results. I guess I had bought into the myth. This article is worth reading so, if you have the time, go to the site and read the entire article. www.medscape.com requires registration to view but it's easy and free to register.
Mike
II see a dentist in Bangkok. He is high priced by Thai standards working in the embassy area. He regularly goes to Vienna for updating his dental education.
I have never had to make an appointment more than one week in advance. Often, he sees me the same day I call. And he's even taken us out for lunch!
I just emailed him concerning the price of a partial bridge. His quote topped out at $500.
I saw a doctor in Bangkok who cost approximately $20/visit. Again, he usually saw me the same day or perhaps two days later. And there are Thai girls offering free tea or water to everyone.
When my friend's ear got clogged after a lot of swimming on an island, she saw a local doctor who saw her immediately and charged her $7.00 to clean the gunk out of her ears.
A university hospital in Chaing Mai teacher massage in the neurology department.
In general I've found the Thais open to other views than just the standard one sold to us by the Pharmaceutical companies.
I have never had to make an appointment more than one week in advance. Often, he sees me the same day I call. And he's even taken us out for lunch!
I just emailed him concerning the price of a partial bridge. His quote topped out at $500.
I saw a doctor in Bangkok who cost approximately $20/visit. Again, he usually saw me the same day or perhaps two days later. And there are Thai girls offering free tea or water to everyone.
When my friend's ear got clogged after a lot of swimming on an island, she saw a local doctor who saw her immediately and charged her $7.00 to clean the gunk out of her ears.
A university hospital in Chaing Mai teacher massage in the neurology department.
In general I've found the Thais open to other views than just the standard one sold to us by the Pharmaceutical companies.
The excerpts are a real eye-opener. Just from anecdotal evidence, I had always assumed that care in the US was a little or a lot better than other places in the developed world. I guess re-examination is needed. I wonder, how objective is the WHO? I hope there is no anti-american bias at work as there is in some other international agencies and NGOs. No doubt there is a problem with care here in the US, regardless.
Brent
Brent
Nods, when I was born I was born at Kaiser, my Dad was a steel worker, I was born there and so was my son.
Two years ago my sister passed away there, we really had to watch the nurses. In the end my bil said they starved her. My husband and I were shocked!
It is hard to see the same Doc at some of those places,
That is a good Doc, Elaine.
They pay in huge taxes for that care in Europe. I dunno.
Hugs
Two years ago my sister passed away there, we really had to watch the nurses. In the end my bil said they starved her. My husband and I were shocked!
It is hard to see the same Doc at some of those places,
That is a good Doc, Elaine.
They pay in huge taxes for that care in Europe. I dunno.
Hugs
ps I do want to add there are some incredible Docs in Europe, France, Italy, Germany have some awful GREAT researchers! We live in a protected society here.
I lived in England 8 years, I lived in Italy 4, Germany 3.
There are many misconceptions about European health care and many facts also.
The idea that human life is valuable there is a moral truth, not based on profit.
It is also the bain of it, Like the US immigrants are soaking the funding. Go into a emergency room here and try to get seen even with insurance. You will wait for hours, the same applies in Europe, systems that were set up to deal with a population 30 years ago are being soaked dry.
There is also a lot of privitization happening in Europe, because of this. Many Doctors are leaving sociol medicine because of pay barriers, the costs of medical school is crazy is every where! My business partner in italy would not go to Italian sosiol Docs, he paid for a extra insurance, same thing in Germany. East germans and the wall coming down, Italy middle easterners, England the same.
In Italy till about 8 years ago you could smoke still in hospitals, you had to bring own linens, pillows, families cooked for their ill. Most Amercians were shocked.
There is a lot more prevention in those countries, things like walking, better diets, though England is quickly catching up with us. Sedentary lifestyles are are driving a lot of the things that kill us early.
I think we need to find a balance, hmos are all crooks, va hospitals so over crowded it isn't funny. funding is awful, sociolization also adds the exact same problems. County hospitals the same,
Different diseases are short listed others you have to wait.
It is indeed a quandry, I am not sure what my answer would be, no human should have to suffer, not in this day and age. With most things with every answer there is is five different different situations,
Deb
There are many misconceptions about European health care and many facts also.
The idea that human life is valuable there is a moral truth, not based on profit.
It is also the bain of it, Like the US immigrants are soaking the funding. Go into a emergency room here and try to get seen even with insurance. You will wait for hours, the same applies in Europe, systems that were set up to deal with a population 30 years ago are being soaked dry.
There is also a lot of privitization happening in Europe, because of this. Many Doctors are leaving sociol medicine because of pay barriers, the costs of medical school is crazy is every where! My business partner in italy would not go to Italian sosiol Docs, he paid for a extra insurance, same thing in Germany. East germans and the wall coming down, Italy middle easterners, England the same.
In Italy till about 8 years ago you could smoke still in hospitals, you had to bring own linens, pillows, families cooked for their ill. Most Amercians were shocked.
There is a lot more prevention in those countries, things like walking, better diets, though England is quickly catching up with us. Sedentary lifestyles are are driving a lot of the things that kill us early.
I think we need to find a balance, hmos are all crooks, va hospitals so over crowded it isn't funny. funding is awful, sociolization also adds the exact same problems. County hospitals the same,
Different diseases are short listed others you have to wait.
It is indeed a quandry, I am not sure what my answer would be, no human should have to suffer, not in this day and age. With most things with every answer there is is five different different situations,
Deb
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