BartSimpson wrote:
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"Sicko" also ignores a handful of good things about the American system. Believe it or not, the United States does rank highest in the patient satisfaction category. Americans do have shorter wait times than everyone but Germans when it comes to nonemergency elective surgery such as hip replacements, cataract removal or knee repair.
That's no surprise given the number of U.S. specialists. In U.S. medical schools, students training to become primary-care physicians have dwindled to 10 percent. The overwhelming majority choose far more profitable specialties in the medical field. In other countries, more than one out of three aspiring doctors chooses primary care in part because there's less of an income gap with specialists. In those nations, becoming a specialist means making 30 percent more than a primary-care physician. In the United States, the gap is around 300 percent, according to Keckley.
The free market
works.
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For the most part, that's true. The latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 43.6 million, or about 15 percent of Americans, were uninsured in 2006. For the past five years, the overall count has fluctuated between 41 million and 44 million people. According to the Institute of Medicine, 18,000 people do die each year mainly because they are less likely to receive screening and preventive care for chronic diseases.
Moore says that the U.S. spends more of its gross domestic product on health care than any other country. Again, that's true. The United States spends more than 15 percent of its GDP on health care -- no other nation even comes close to that number. France spends about 11 percent, and Canadians spend 10 percent.
Like Moore, we also found that more money does not equal better care. Both the French and Canadian systems rank in the Top 10 of the world's best health-care systems, according to the World Health Organization. The United States comes in at No. 37. The rankings are based on general health of the population, access, patient satisfaction and how the care's paid for.
Yep, that's the free market alright, excellent hip replacements but 15% without adequate coverage, and those that have coverage, pay far more than citizens in other industrialized nations pay. It also sounds like it's next to impossible to get a family doctor down there, with only 10% of graduates not becoming specialists.
Like I've always said, the US system allows for excellent health care for the wealthy and upper middle class and everyone can use what's left over. Up here, everyone gets good health care. That's the difference between Canada and ths US. Up here, we look out for one another and down there it's sink or swim. I know which system I prefer...
Well. One more post and I can put it down.
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