Die in Britain, Survive in the US (The joys of socialized medicine)

The Spectator ^ | February 10, 2005 | James Bartholomew

[quidnunc]

American healthcare is an expensive muddle that leaves millions unprotected, and yet it delivers much better results – for everyone – than the NHS

Which is better — American or British medical care? If a defender of the National Health Service wants to win the argument against a free market alternative, he declares, ‘You wouldn’t want healthcare like they have in America, would you?’

That is the knock-out blow. Everyone knows the American system is horrible. You arrive in hospital, desperately ill, and they ask to see your credit card. If you haven’t got one, they boot you out. It is, surely, a heartless, callous, unthinkable system. American healthcare is unbridled capitalism, red in the blood of the untreated poor.

For goodness’ sake, the American system is so bad that even Americans — plenty of them anyway, if not all — want to give it up. They want something more like the Canadian system or our own National Health Service. That is what Hillary Clinton wanted and there are still plenty of people like her around. Tony Judt, in a recent edition of the New York Review of Books, was damning about American medical care and glowing about European healthcare. Think of all the money that is wasted in America invoicing patients and administering lots of separate, independent hospitals.

-snip-

[kingsurfer]

No we do not. But we know if you get cancer you pretty screwed.

[Tribune7]

Well it did look like an interesting article.

[I_like_good_things_too]

Very Interesting. Now, what I'd like to see is a breakdown of those figures by race (you know, that way we'd be coparing apples to apples). I'll bet you see something quite different.

[VRWCisme]

Obviously there's more to those statistics than the quality of medical care. For example, many Americans die early because of complications or diseases brought on by obesity, while Britain has less of a problem with that. That's not a product of either country's health care system, it's a product of lifestyles, attitudes about food and exercise, etc. The bald statistics don't reflect a direct comparison of the two health systems.

[kingsurfer]

But post ten shows we live longer.

[mista science]

Infant mortality rate: total: 6.63 deaths/1,000 live births male: 7.31 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.43 years male: 74.63 years female: 80.36 years (2004 est.)

Remind me again about the desperate straits of the British NHS? The statistics can be found at this well known Commie organization.

How about providing us a link to those stats?

[kingsurfer]

Nah. We are just as fat as you. We are the bggest consumers of chocolate in the world.

[Incorrigible]

Related Thread:

Europeans Unhappy With Socialized Medicine Turn to Private Sector
 

[DCBurgess58]

There's one Norwegain country with a good system

Is Scandinavia a Norwegian country??

[shaggy eel]

,,, Norway is outside the square in this sort of discussion. That country's provision for superannuation and medical care is funded from enviable income streams from notable offshore oil production. Few nations can match that sort of subsidised generosity - probably only Saudi Arabia could top it.

[armymarinedad]

This is actually a four page article that goes into some detail on why we live longer. Americans get much better health care than Brits. It is worth registering and reading the compete article.

[Fire137]

I have an extremely large extended family in Britian. Several members work for the NHS. They all say it sucks. Anyone with the cash goes to private physician. Also no one uses their very "extensive" bus and train sysytem if they can afford a car and the very expensive( overtaxed ) fuel.

[kingsurfer]

Do people without health insurance get better care?

[HowDidIGetHere?]

Compassion and empathy are nurtured through the passage of time and the experience of suffering. Are you a young person?

[expatpat]

Anyone with the cash goes to private physicians

Yes, indeed. The Canadians don't even have that option in-country. Fortunately, they have the US system close by, though.

[armymarinedad]

That is debatable. The problem for those stuck in the middle, not able to buy insurance but make to much for Medicare or Medicaid, are stuck paying their own bills. This can leave them bankrupt. Yet if they show up at the hospital here they have to be treated.

[AdrianR]

Someone posted this.

"United Kingdom

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.27 years male: 75.84 years female: 80.83 years (2004 est.)

United States

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.43 years male: 74.63 years female: 80.36 years (2004 est.)"

The stats are true but life expectancy does not exactly measure the quality of healthcare. A gap of 0.84 years between US and UK might be due to a lot of reasons other than healthcare: higher rates of traffic accidents in US (there are more accidents than in UK simply because people drive more), drug abuse, crime, etc.

Here is a stat that actually measures the quality of healthcare. Cancer survival rates (from BBC):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/272078.stm

US: Breast cancer 82%, colon cancer 60%

UK: Breast cancer 63%, colon cancer 36%

Those multi-month waiting lists for cancer treatments in socialized healthcare certainly have effect...

[free_european]

Here in LA, the County hospital is pretty awful, but about the same as most NHS hospitals I've visted relatives back in Britain in.

[expatpat]

A lot of the younger folk don't carry insurance (they self-insure) because they rarely use a physician.

[kingsurfer]

I worked in the States and everyone I knew was desperate for insurance. They were self insured because they worked minimum wage jobs and could not afford the time or money for college.