http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/...65165020080108
So much for having the "best healthcare system in the world." Who ranks first in having the fewest number of preventable deaths? France. Who ranks last amongst the 19 leading industrialized nations? Us. The United States. We do. Wonderful.
We sank over a trillion dollars in this misguided War on Terror. Yet, here we have 33 ANNUAL 9/11s that we choose not to prevent that would not come close to the economic cost of the wars launched over 3000 deaths.
Access. That's the key. Currently we have a convoluted system with a myriad of insurance providers and payment systems, making the costs of any individual procedure completely opaque. Not only that, doctors keep jumping in and out of networks--my doctor left my network so if I want to continue that relationship which I have built up over the years, I need to switch insurance providers somehow (good luck with getting the same rate) or pay out the ass independently. Access. Single-payer would streamline all of that.
Well, it's not all bad news. We are improving. Since the last study, we've reduced the preventable deaths by 4%. That's kinda nice.
Oops. That's WAY below average compared to the other industrialized nations. Now that looks rather pathetic. Fine, but that's the only other bad news, right?
We spend more for worse results? Fuck.
By the way, where's the private charity in all of this that the local libertarian front likes to say will step in and save lives? THIRTY-THREE ANNUAL 9/11s. Where's the compassion? Where's the charity? Where's your love for your fellow countryman?
We are an embarrassment to the world until we establish healthcare as a human right and have single-payer.
Carrying the torch for tonton in this thread here. I'll miss ya around here, buddy.
So much for having the "best healthcare system in the world." Who ranks first in having the fewest number of preventable deaths? France. Who ranks last amongst the 19 leading industrialized nations? Us. The United States. We do. Wonderful.
Quote:
If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs.
We sank over a trillion dollars in this misguided War on Terror. Yet, here we have 33 ANNUAL 9/11s that we choose not to prevent that would not come close to the economic cost of the wars launched over 3000 deaths.
Quote:
Nolte said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance -- about 47 million people in a country of about 300 million, according to U.S. government estimates -- probably was a key factor in the poor showing of the United States compared to other industrialized nations in the study.
"I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?" Nolte said in a telephone interview.
"I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?" Nolte said in a telephone interview.
Access. That's the key. Currently we have a convoluted system with a myriad of insurance providers and payment systems, making the costs of any individual procedure completely opaque. Not only that, doctors keep jumping in and out of networks--my doctor left my network so if I want to continue that relationship which I have built up over the years, I need to switch insurance providers somehow (good luck with getting the same rate) or pay out the ass independently. Access. Single-payer would streamline all of that.
Well, it's not all bad news. We are improving. Since the last study, we've reduced the preventable deaths by 4%. That's kinda nice.
Quote:
All the countries made progress in reducing preventable deaths from these earlier rankings, the researchers said. These types of deaths dropped by an average of 16 percent for the nations in the study, but the U.S. decline was only 4 percent.
Oops. That's WAY below average compared to the other industrialized nations. Now that looks rather pathetic. Fine, but that's the only other bad news, right?
Quote:
"The fact that other countries are reducing these preventable deaths more rapidly, yet spending far less, indicates that policy, goals and efforts to improve health systems make a difference," Schoen added in a statement.
We spend more for worse results? Fuck.
By the way, where's the private charity in all of this that the local libertarian front likes to say will step in and save lives? THIRTY-THREE ANNUAL 9/11s. Where's the compassion? Where's the charity? Where's your love for your fellow countryman?
We are an embarrassment to the world until we establish healthcare as a human right and have single-payer.
Carrying the torch for tonton in this thread here. I'll miss ya around here, buddy.
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
-Sagan
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
-Sagan
