Is U.S. Health Care Truly 'Broken'?

The American Thinker ^ | October 24, 2010 | Deane Waldman

[Scanian]

There are reasonable people who question whether our health care system is, in fact, "broken," as opined by President Obama. (This is one of the few conclusions he makes with which I agree. Of course, ObamaCare is very clearly not the solution.)

Objective, evidence-based analysis of the U.S. health care system leads to the well-worn doctor joke: "I have good news and bad news." Every assertion below has "hard" scientific proof. What follows is fact, not unsubstantiated opinion.

First, the good news

Americans have better health care outcomes than most others: better survival rates for common cancers than Europeans, better preventative cancer screening than Canadians, better access to chronic disease treatments, greater and much faster access to new technologies, less waiting times for care than in either Great Britain or Canada, and higher patient satisfaction here than in most European "universal health care" countries.

By any measure you choose -- patents applied for, new drugs or procedures, Nobel prizes, and more -- the USA is the most medically innovative country on the planet.

American-trained providers are considered the best. The super-rich fly from all over the world to the USA for their medical care. They do not go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for the weather.

Now, the bad news

The "bad news" is financial difficulty, provider shortages, and outcomes.

The U.S. spends more per capita on health care ($4,631) than any other nation. Interestingly, eight countries have annual increases in national spending greater than ours. Until the recent U.S. real estate collapse, medical bills were the leading cause of personal bankruptcies.

Forty-five million American residents (13% of our population) have no health insurance. Interestingly, 24% are uninsured by choice: they qualify for government assistance programs but refuse to sign up. .

[Smokin' Joe]

Dusty, I figured we were. (8^D)