An interesting article from the Huffington Post blog by Blake Fleetwood:
"Figures from the World Health Organization clearly show that The United States lags behind 36 other countries in overall health system performance ranging from infant mortality, to adult mortality, to life expectancy.
"20 countries in Europe and four countries in Asia have a better life expectancy than the U.S. If you are a male between the ages of 15 and 59, your chances of dying are higher in the U.S. (140 per thousand) than in Canada, 95, Costa Rica 127, Chile 134, and Cuba, 138.
"The U.S. Health system looks especially dysfunctional when you consider how much money we spend per capita on healthcare -- $6,000 plus per year, twice as much as any other country -- and how little we get for it."
Read the entire article
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8 comments:
I suggest that you move to cuba then.
It did not say that life in Cuba was better, just medical care. Of course, medical care is also better in Canada and almost all of western Europe also. But I am an American born and bred and a patriot and I prefer to stay here and work to make it better.
As a patriot I think America should have the best medical care in the world. People who are willing to settle for our current second-rate status must not love America as much as I do.
Looks like not even second-rate, but according to the article 37th-rate, in spite of spending twice as much as the top country, and 30 times as much as Cuba! If anonymous above had bothered to read the article, he would have seen that the point is not at all to say that the US is bad or that the pathetic, bankrupt Cuba is good, but that the US public is getting seriously shafted by their own medical system and drug companies.
I already know from personal experience how expensive medical treatment is, but I did not know that it's WAY more expensive here than EVERYWHERE else. More expensive, and not better, but WORSE! And while I have to scrape together all I have and sometimes borrow more to pay my medical bills, the doctors, drug company execs and their lobbyists are out playing golf on some expensive course somewhere. I think that sucks!
And to Mr. "Love it or Leave it" anonymous, this doesn't make me want to move to Cuba, it makes me want to see the people screwing their fellow countrymen (like me!) stopped and prevented from making huge profits off of other people's illnesses.
So how about you, anonymous? You think the medical system here is AOK? You're either someone who's never been sick, never had to pay a bill, or maybe one of the people making a profit. In any case you're a jackass with nothing to contribute.
"Anti-American"?! That is pathetic. I said I didn't want to go to Cuba. I said I was pissed at the fact that medical treatment here is way more expensive than most anywhere else. And the reason is because the drug companies and doctors here are taking advantage of people and making huge profits.
And quality of care? You apparently still can't be bothered to read the article. The whole point is that medical treatment here is not only more expensive but WORSE than 36 other countries. Not just Canada and Cuba, but EVERY developed country and even some poor countries. The fact that a handful of rich Canadians might come here to see a doctor doesn't mean anything. I'm sure if I had a bazillion dollars, I could go to the richest hospital and see the best doctor here. The fact is, I don't have that kind of money, and neither do most Americans. And still I have to pay an arm and a leg to see a doctor. Hard-working people are going bankrupt from having to pay their medical bills. I now pay more money for less insurance coverage than I had five years ago. That is just not right.
Now tell me, why does that make me anti-American? Your idea of pro-American must mean that you prefer that Americans get screwed on their medical bills. And anyone who disagrees with you is a socialist or a communist. That is truly pathetic.
Anti-American.
We live under the rule of capitalism. Not socialism or communism. If you want a cheaper system with price controls then you need to go to a country with this systtem of govenrment. I imagine that you will be packing and leaving soon. Good ridance.
You also miss the ones making record profits and it is not the drug companies it is the insurande companies. At least look into things instead of puking out what the TV tells you to puke out.
Non-Reading "Ditto-head",
How about this, why don't you try to read some things instead of puking out what Rush Limbaugh and FOX news tells you to puke out?
I don't doubt that the insurance industry is making high profits. I never said I liked them, either. But I also know, for a fact, that the drug companies are also making ridiculous amounts of money. Do a google search, lamebrain, before accusing me of not knowing my facts. Google search "drug company profits", and you'll find statistics showing that the drug industry has been if not the top then one of the most profitable industries in America for years. And how do they make that profit? By overcharging people (and the government) for who need those drugs. You'll find articles and books explaining that in detail, too. Not that I imagine that you'll bother to read any of that. You seem to be quite content with your complete ignorance of the facts you are trying to talk about.
We live in a country that has laws that protects people from being screwed and exploited. We have things like a minimum wage. We have a progressive income tax. We have social security. We have medicare. We have had these things for many decades, and we're not about to get rid of them. I don't hear many politicians calling to get rid of these things either, because if they did, there's no way they'd get elected, because the AMERICAN PEOPLE would never elect them. Even Bush, who no doubt wants to get rid of these things, had to put forth a "prescription drug plan", because EVERYONE knows that drugs are way too expensive and the prices need to be regulated. Of course, his plan sucks, because he doesn't really care. But even he can't ignore the basic fact that it's the government's responsibility to make sure that people don't go bankrupt trying to buy the medicine they need.
If you don't want any of the basic economic protections that Americans have a right to because it doesn't fit your definition of capitalism, then I suggest that it is YOU who move. I know--why don't you go to one of those off-shore banking islands where all the rich people put their money so they can avoid paying taxes! Oh, how patriotic, how pro-American those rich people are! You people make me sick. You bankrupt this country with your wars, and then you do everything you can to avoid paying taxes, so that OTHER people have to pay for them. It's people like YOU who are running this country into the ground.
You dare call me anti-American. You live in a fantasy world. You clearly don't know anything about your own country's history, and you don't even know about your own economic and political system today. Get a clue.
So now you are for pricefixing. You are a true communist. All for one and one for all.
I suggest that anyone wanting cheap healthcare go to these communist countries and let the best and the brightest opperate on you. I hope that you don't have surgery comming up in the future. Those Cuans are the best. Good luck you ant-American. Dave Barrett is a communist.
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