Posted on 11/28/2015 8:27:27 AM PST by Oldpuppymax
Here’s the biggest topic in public health: Why does the U.S. pay substantially more than any other country in the world for healthcare, only to realize mediocre outcomes? Consider these findings, from a 2010 Commonwealth Fund report (and things have not much improved):
Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries. Compared with six other nations—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—the U.S. healthcare system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives.
A 2012 report from the same organization compared healthcare spending, supply, utilization, prices, and quality in 13 industrialized countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States:
The U.S. spends far more on healthcare than any other country. However, this high spending cannot be attributed to higher income, an older population, or greater supply or utilization of hospitals and doctors. Instead, the findings suggest the higher spending is more likely due to higher prices and perhaps more readily accessible technology and greater obesity. Healthcare quality in the U.S. varies and is not notably superior to the far less expensive systems in the other study countries.
Of course, it doesn’t help that 30 cents of every dollar spent on healthcare in the U.S. is wasted, according to...
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...
Does this mean that Obamacare didn’t fix it? (/s)
The US healthcare system is a FAR bigger threat to the US economy than the military-industrial complex EVER WAS. >20% of GDP going to health care is not going to work.
Not helping here either are the very bad habits of Americans; obesity, lack of exercise, drug abuse, and so on.
Tort reform would go a long way to get health care out of the hands of lawyers. And it goes without saying Obamacare putting it in the hands of government employees is foolish. Leave medicine to Doctors if you want the best health care.
We’re definitely not getting our money’s worth when it comes to common everyday healthcare. Obamacare only made things worse than they were before.
What % of the population of the 6 countries listed before USA is white?
Costs have now skyrocketed out of all proportion to the reality of actual services rendered.
And governmental and corporate involvement in health care is the cause of the problem, not the solution.
The United States does not have "healthcare" that can possibly be measured based on health-related performance measures. I suspect most other countries don't, either.
The "health care system" in the U.S. is nothing more than a bureaucratic and financial construct with one purpose: to get other people to pay your own exorbitant medical bills.
Writer is an idiot that hasn't traveled much.
Do the other countries in the study have Government paid healthcare?
Because countries like Canada and Great Britain refuse to pay market prices for drugs and medical devices which leaves the US holding the bag.
Oh it was healthcare?! I thought it was a tax to create revenue for the government while paying out a minimum of benefits so they could redistribute it to slugs. Well that and to create the Mark of the Beast database system to punish Christians soon.
Our “worst” healthcare hardly every lets patients in beds in hospitals die of neglect and dehydration. The UK’s NHS cannot say the same.
And, unlike NHS, if such a thing DOES happen, the hospital and its staff are made to answer. NHS hospitals and their staff are essentially untouchable. .
Yeah, our healthcare is expensive, but this guy is delusional if he thinks it’s better in Canada, France, Germany and the UK. He needs to travel outside the country more often.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.