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The L.A. Times had a front page article today on how the GOP is impeding, if not stopping, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act through actions by state legislatures to reject the expansion of Medicaid to provide coverage for the poorer people in those states.
We are still hearing claims that "the government" is trying to socialize medicine and screw up "the best healthcare system in the world," that abounded while the ACA was being pushed through Congress instead of Medicare for all.
Below is a memo I put together in 2010 during the mud wrestling in Congress, on just how well the U. S. Healthcare system ranks internationally. Not well, it turned out. We have great facilities and doctors for those who have access to them. Trouble is, that is only the upper levels of this society. It only took a few hours to pull up the facts. Too bad our politicians don’t seem have the time or inclination to look for them. (I got tired of trying to correct the formatting which was screwed up by posting it here.)
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HEALTH STATISTICS: How The U.S.A. Ranks In The World.
1. ACCESS TO, AND QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE FOR TOTAL POPULATION. [World Health Report 2000, Annex Table 10, Page 200]:
The U.S.A. ranked 37th, behind The Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, but ahead of Slovenia, Cuba, etc.
[The ranking scale and its criteria were developed by Harvard Medical School for the WHO.]
2. AVERAGE COST PER PERSON EXPENDED BY THE SOCIETY FOR HEALTH CARE.
U.S.A. $7,000 (highest among all)
Japan $3,000 (lowest among developed nations)
3. HEALTH EXPENDITURES AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, 2000 [OECD Health At A Glance, 2007, Govt. Of Taiwan.]
U.S.A. 15.3%
Switzerland 11.6%
France 11.1%
Germany 10.7%
Canada 9.8%
Sweden 9.1%
U.K. 8.3%
Japan 8.0%
Taiwan 6.2%
4. 2008 ELECTION CAMPAIGN POLLS RE PUBLIC OPINION ON U.S.A. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.
79% of Americans told pollsters that they wanted either "fundamental change", or "a complete overhaul."
5. LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A CHILD BORN IN 2006.
[WHO statistics].
U.S.A. ranked 47th in the world, just ahead of Cyprus, and just behind Bosnia and Herzegovinia (also behind, for example, Jordan).
6. INFANT MORTALITY
[WHO statistics, 2005, number of deaths before age one year, per 1000 live births) :
Japan 3.0
Finland 3.0
Sweden 3.3
Norway 3.5
France 4.1
Spain 4.1
Austria 4.1
..........
Germany 4.2
............
U.S.A. (22nd) 7.0
7. HEALTHY LIFE EXPECTANCY (i.e., How Long Can A Person Expect To Live Before The Onset Of Disabling Diseases Of Old Age?):
The U.S.A. ranked 24th in the world, age 72.6 for females and 67.5 for males. Dr. Christopher Murray of Harvard Medical School, a co-author of the test scale, reportedly was surprised by the poor showing of the U.S.A. He was quoted as stating, "Basically, you die earlier and spend more time disabled if you are an American than if you are a member of most other advanced countries."
8. AVOIDABLE MORTALITY
[How nations ranked in curing patients with potentially fatal diseases, but which are curable if properly treated. Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard, 2006.]
France
Japan
Spain
Sweden
Italy
Australia
Canada
Norway
............
U.S.A. (15th)
9. MEDICAL-RELATED BANKRUPTCY
In the U.S.A., 62% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medically-related. That is, the debtors were in bankruptcy because of overwhelming medical bills. Most of the debtors were well-educated and middle class. Most had health insurance which no longer covered the expenses.
Between 2001 and 2007, the number of bankruptcies from medical bills as a share of total bankruptcies rose 50%.
15% of medical bankruptcies involved the illness of a child. 40% involved persons who had lost their jobs or were out of work because of a medical event.
As of 2007, it was estimated that about 1,500,000 people would file for bankruptcy protection. That comes out to about 900,000 people in bankruptcy per year from medical expenses.
[David Himmelstein, Deborah Thorne, Elizabeth Warren, Steffie Woolhandler, American Journal Of Medicine, Vol. 122, Issue 8, August 2009.]
The number of medical expense bankruptcy filings in Western Europe, Japan and Taiwan is -0-. [Clips of interviews with healthcare ministers on PBS.]
COMMENT:
The Avoidable Mortality statistics cut to the heart of the health care debate. Although the U.S.A. spends far more per person for health care than other developed countries, our outcomes are poor, especially for a country capable of the quality of care available here to those able to pay for it and who are well enough informed to look out for themselves in the system.
Something is wrong in our system when we have 45,000 people per year dying of curable diseases because they could not afford access to the treatment they needed. This is a moral issue that should not be buried under political slogans and propaganda. [See, K. E. Lasser, et al., Health Insurance And Mortality In U.S. Adults, 99 American Journal Of Public Health, 666-672 (April 2009)].
We are still hearing claims that "the government" is trying to socialize medicine and screw up "the best healthcare system in the world," that abounded while the ACA was being pushed through Congress instead of Medicare for all.
Below is a memo I put together in 2010 during the mud wrestling in Congress, on just how well the U. S. Healthcare system ranks internationally. Not well, it turned out. We have great facilities and doctors for those who have access to them. Trouble is, that is only the upper levels of this society. It only took a few hours to pull up the facts. Too bad our politicians don’t seem have the time or inclination to look for them. (I got tired of trying to correct the formatting which was screwed up by posting it here.)
***********************************************
HEALTH STATISTICS: How The U.S.A. Ranks In The World.
1. ACCESS TO, AND QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE FOR TOTAL POPULATION. [World Health Report 2000, Annex Table 10, Page 200]:
The U.S.A. ranked 37th, behind The Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, but ahead of Slovenia, Cuba, etc.
[The ranking scale and its criteria were developed by Harvard Medical School for the WHO.]
2. AVERAGE COST PER PERSON EXPENDED BY THE SOCIETY FOR HEALTH CARE.
U.S.A. $7,000 (highest among all)
Japan $3,000 (lowest among developed nations)
3. HEALTH EXPENDITURES AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, 2000 [OECD Health At A Glance, 2007, Govt. Of Taiwan.]
U.S.A. 15.3%
Switzerland 11.6%
France 11.1%
Germany 10.7%
Canada 9.8%
Sweden 9.1%
U.K. 8.3%
Japan 8.0%
Taiwan 6.2%
4. 2008 ELECTION CAMPAIGN POLLS RE PUBLIC OPINION ON U.S.A. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.
79% of Americans told pollsters that they wanted either "fundamental change", or "a complete overhaul."
5. LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A CHILD BORN IN 2006.
[WHO statistics].
U.S.A. ranked 47th in the world, just ahead of Cyprus, and just behind Bosnia and Herzegovinia (also behind, for example, Jordan).
6. INFANT MORTALITY
[WHO statistics, 2005, number of deaths before age one year, per 1000 live births) :
Japan 3.0
Finland 3.0
Sweden 3.3
Norway 3.5
France 4.1
Spain 4.1
Austria 4.1
..........
Germany 4.2
............
U.S.A. (22nd) 7.0
7. HEALTHY LIFE EXPECTANCY (i.e., How Long Can A Person Expect To Live Before The Onset Of Disabling Diseases Of Old Age?):
The U.S.A. ranked 24th in the world, age 72.6 for females and 67.5 for males. Dr. Christopher Murray of Harvard Medical School, a co-author of the test scale, reportedly was surprised by the poor showing of the U.S.A. He was quoted as stating, "Basically, you die earlier and spend more time disabled if you are an American than if you are a member of most other advanced countries."
8. AVOIDABLE MORTALITY
[How nations ranked in curing patients with potentially fatal diseases, but which are curable if properly treated. Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard, 2006.]
France
Japan
Spain
Sweden
Italy
Australia
Canada
Norway
............
U.S.A. (15th)
9. MEDICAL-RELATED BANKRUPTCY
In the U.S.A., 62% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medically-related. That is, the debtors were in bankruptcy because of overwhelming medical bills. Most of the debtors were well-educated and middle class. Most had health insurance which no longer covered the expenses.
Between 2001 and 2007, the number of bankruptcies from medical bills as a share of total bankruptcies rose 50%.
15% of medical bankruptcies involved the illness of a child. 40% involved persons who had lost their jobs or were out of work because of a medical event.
As of 2007, it was estimated that about 1,500,000 people would file for bankruptcy protection. That comes out to about 900,000 people in bankruptcy per year from medical expenses.
[David Himmelstein, Deborah Thorne, Elizabeth Warren, Steffie Woolhandler, American Journal Of Medicine, Vol. 122, Issue 8, August 2009.]
The number of medical expense bankruptcy filings in Western Europe, Japan and Taiwan is -0-. [Clips of interviews with healthcare ministers on PBS.]
COMMENT:
The Avoidable Mortality statistics cut to the heart of the health care debate. Although the U.S.A. spends far more per person for health care than other developed countries, our outcomes are poor, especially for a country capable of the quality of care available here to those able to pay for it and who are well enough informed to look out for themselves in the system.
Something is wrong in our system when we have 45,000 people per year dying of curable diseases because they could not afford access to the treatment they needed. This is a moral issue that should not be buried under political slogans and propaganda. [See, K. E. Lasser, et al., Health Insurance And Mortality In U.S. Adults, 99 American Journal Of Public Health, 666-672 (April 2009)].
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