The drivers of increased costs in medical care are government mandates, red tape and interference, along with litigation. None of these issues are the problem in Germany and Switzerland. I disagree with your contention that America has a lower standard of care by every measure. Baloney.
Addiction in America IS treated like an illness. As I’ve said multiple times, one of the benefits of drug testing welfare recipients is to divert them into treatment rather than let them continue to drink and drug on our nickel…and then access medical care on our nickel.
And what this has to do with the thread is beyond me. Maybe get back on topic or start yet another thread on those who are not involved in the healthcare system making specious and unsupported claims about how bad it is…
Lisa
Well, I guess you have your own private set of statistics to refer to. I was referring to the assessment of the likes of the National Academy of Science, which in its brief on the topic says the following:
The U.S. health disadvantage spans many types of illness and injury. When compared with the average of peer countries, Americans as a group fare worse in at least nine health areas:
- infant mortality and low birth weight
- injuries and homicides
- adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
- HIV and AIDS
- drug-related deaths
- obesity and diabetes
- heart disease
- chronic lung disease
- disability
Many of these conditions have a particularly profound effect on young people, reducing the odds that Americans will live to age 50. And for those who reach age 50, these conditions contribute to poorer health and greater illness later in life.
This brief, and many others, go on to describe the problems with the US medical delivery system which contribute to the lower standard of delivery, and the higher costs. You mention a few of the minor contributors. For example, malpractice litigation and related expenses such as insurance do account for about 3% of the total. Probably the largest contributor, is the insurance industry, but there are many factors.
The bottom line is that it can be fixed, and we know how to fix it. All we need to do is look at systems which are more successful.
The fact is that, unlike the other developed countries, unless the US does something to bring its system up to international standards, the cost of healthcare will exceed 25% of GDP within 2-3 decades.
If addiction were treated as an illness in the US, say as it is treated as an illness in the Netherlands, then addicts would be at medical centers instead of being in prisons. We prosecute and incarcerate drug users in the US. We incarcerate more people, per capita, than any other developed country, and more than nearly every other country. Most of those incarcerations are drug related. You are incorrect in your perception that we treat addiction as an illness. In some cases yes, but for the most part we treat addicts as criminals.
One more excerpt from the IOM report for which the brief may be found here:
iom.edu/Reports/2013/US-Health-in-International-Perspective-Shorter-Lives-Poorer-Health/Report-Brief010913.aspx
The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be fully explained by the health disparities that exist among people who are uninsured or poor, as important as these issues are. Several studies are now suggesting that even advantaged Americans— those who are white, insured, college-educated, or upper income—are in worse health than similar individuals in other countries.
Why Are Americans So Unhealthy?
The panel’s inquiry found multiple likely explanations for the U.S. health disadvantage:
Health systems. Unlike its peer countries, the United States has a relatively large uninsured population and more limited access to primary care. Americans are more likely to find their health care inaccessible or unaffordable and to report lapses in the quality and safety of care outside of hospitals.
Social and economic conditions. Although the income of Americans is higher on average than in other countries, the United States also has higher levels of poverty (especially child poverty) and income inequality and lower rates of social mobility. Other countries are outpacing the United States in the education of young people, which also affects health. And Americans benefit less from safety net programs that can buffer the negative health effects of poverty and other social disadvantages.
The problems are related to poverty, which is why talking about it is not irrelevant to this thread.
