SOME INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING THE US HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Concerning how long we live: Longevity

In 2000 the World Health Organization studied health and related factors of the world’s nations. One of these measures was longevity ranking. How long a citizen lived in good health. Of the 191 nations evaluated Japan ranked 1, while the US ranked 24th . The US placed just above the nation of Cyprus (25th) and below nations such as Iceland, Finland and Malta. Yes the citizens of those nations live longer than those in US. In these rankings Australia came in at number 2, and all of Western Europe ranked in the single digits, for instance :France (3), Italy (4). Canada was ranked 12. The citizenry of the USA, the richest most powerful nation in the world, do not live as long as those in much smaller, weaker, and poorer nations! Why? Could it be that we have no national health care system? The US government has no actual stake it its citizen’s health. Is that why? Note that the citizens of Canada (a nation much abused in our TV adverts) live longer on average than a US citizen. Why?

Concerning how our health care system functions: Health System Performance

The WHO estimated the functioning of a nation’s health care system using eight parameters. In these 1997 rankings the US placed 71 out of 191 nations listed. While nations such as France (4), Italy (3) Spain(6), Greece (11), UK(24), Norway(18), Belgium, Sweden(21), as well as little Oman, tropical Jamaica, desertified Morocco ranked well above us. We were in the company of nations such as Bhutan (73), Nicaragua (74) and (pre-US invasion) Iraq (75). Why?

Canada which US anti-health-care advocates seems to like to use in their scare tactics was ranked at 35 in health care performance. Canada and the US are found on the same NA continent. We have similar ethnic origins and speak the same language (well nearly). We have a similar economic system, government and judiciary. Why such a disparity in health care rankings? Could it be their much maligned (here in the US) health care system is better than our system of unregulated insurance companies?

Concerning how much we spend on health care: Cost

Total Health Care Expenditures: This is where the US ranks highest--in the cost of its health-care system. We expended (2005 figures) more than 15.2% of our GDP on health care and rank number two on the chart, just under the Marshal Islands (rank = 1) which spends 15.4% of its GDP, and above Niue (r= 3) Timor (r= 4) and Kiribati (r=5). Who even knows where these nations are?

On the other hand France, Italy, Germany, and Canada…all those nations with better longevity figures and health care performance rankings--- spend less of their GDP than we do.

Another Evaluation: Preventable Deaths…the US ranks last!

In a 2008 study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (See http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN07651650 --downloaded Aug 13, 2009) researchers Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee tracked patient deaths that they deemed could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care. They ranked 19 industrialized nations on how they performed in avoiding unnecessary or preventable deaths . The researchers considered deaths before age 75 from various causes including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes , certain bacterial infections and post operative care. The authors considered the results an important way to assess the functioning of a nation’s health care system. Of the nineteen nations France, Japan, and Australia rated the best and the US the worst (at the bottom).

In the study France did the best with less than 65 deaths deemed preventable per 1000 people in the 2002-2003 study period, while Japan had 71.2 and Australia 71.3. The US rate was 109.7 cases deemed “preventable deaths” per 100,000 citizens. After the top three, Spain was 4th, followed by Italy, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, UK, Ireland and Portugal…the US was last.

In a comparison of previous rankings in the years 1997-1998 the authors note that France and Japan were first and second, while the US was 15th in these earlier rankings. Thus over the period the US had declined by four rankings in the current study. During the period studied the authors conclude that all the nations made progress in decreasing the number of “unnecessary or preventable deaths” noting that on average the numbers of preventable deaths declined by 16% for the 19 nations studied. They noted however that the US decline was only one-fourth of the average value of the other industrialized nations, or only 4%.

The authors concluded that using if the US health care system performed as well as those of the top three countries more than 100,000 fewer US citizens would die each year. These “unnecessary” deaths constituted 23% of overall male deaths and 32% of female deaths in each year in the US.

Is there some common thread we might detect among those nations which have better health care, lower morbidity (sickness) and lower rates of mortality?

Yes it is obvious--those nations such as France, Japan, Italy, Greece, UK and ……yes Canada…. all have universal health care systems in which the central government oversees and regulates the operation and function of health care insurers and health care professionals. The results—are clearly superior to our unregulated, expensive and ineffective system. Those who continue to oppose change in our health care system may have to pay for it---not with higher taxes but with a shorter, less healthful life…for themselves and their children.

What are these activists in the town hall meetings trying to prevent?
Better health care?
Are they against the possibility of living a longer more healthful life?
Are they against lowering costs?

Or are they simply ill informed unthinking dupes of the giant HMOs, and insurance companies?