1ºSome very poor, agenda-driven analysis by CNN here.
Can we expect that assault-induced deaths will decline if we institute universal healthcare? Suddenly anti-vaxxers will get their already free shots, the obese will lose weight, and young people will stop overdosing on fentanyl? The rate of traffic deaths is going to decline by three-quarters so as to match the Netherlands’? These are all factors that contribute to high mortality among the young, which drastically reduces life expectancy statistics.
The US is beset by a number of social ills that drive its numbers. Any comparison of health system–related outcomes should be adjusted for this. Even unadjusted, US life expectancy—despite the gross inefficiency of our healthcare system—is only two years (2.5%) lower than in Germany as well as Denmark, the world’s happiest country.
What this story effectively demonstrates is that of the various causes of death cited, the US does better with regard to the one that actually has to do with the healthcare system: cancer.
For the record, I live in Japan, where I pay handsomely for my “free” healthcare and will almost certainly die if I ever need a transplant, because transplants occur at one-thirty-sixth that of the US. (The Japanese live long on average because of proper diet and the nearly total absence of hard drugs and violent crime.)
2ºMike Flannigan - Your exchanging with someone who’s worked internationally in different countries’ healthcare systems. Personally, I wouldn’t trade my French healthcare access and coverage for the broken US system. No system is perfect but the former avails one a less stressful life. The French system is public/private, cradle to grave. One pays higher taxes for it but one doesn’t stress about coverage or fall into the American bizarreness of medical bankruptcy AND health outcomes and life expectancy are better than . Step outside the American Bubble and one will actually see that other places actually do certain things better AND QoL is much better.
3ºGloria Letostak I worked (RN) for a couple of large so-called nonprofit Catholic health care organizations. Just because they say they are nonprofit, they aren't really. It's just that the profit goes into things like a venture capital fund instead of shareholders' pockets.
I can't speak about the systems you worked for, but the largest Catholic nonprofit health care organization I worked for was the worst, most money-grubbing place I have ever worked for- they made it absolutely clear that profits came before patients... We weren't even provided appropriate snacks for diabetic patients because the hospital said it cost too much.
4ºCasey Sawyer I am from the UK, Sawyer, it is all true what I am saying. You haven't got a clue what UHC is. And you certainly do not have it in the US. Universal means everyone - and you don't cover everyone - 30 million without health insurance, that is not covering everyone. We do. Also we pay no bills - it is free at the point of use, paid for by the taxpayer. You are so wrong it is laughable. Trying to tell someone from a country with UHC they are wrong is laughable. Good grief that is so pathetic of you.
5ºCasey Sawyer What is laughable , Sawyer, is that you have proved you have no idea what UHC is. "Total Americans Without Health Insurance
In 2021, roughly 30 million people did not have health insurance in the U.S. This number includes all age groups, but nonelderly adults have the highest uninsured rate. At 13.5% without coverage, those surveyed were aged 18 to 64. " Money Geek - just Google it, like you can with what I am saying about the NHS, Sawyer and learn something, because plainly you are just ignorant on what UHC is. Your ignorance is stunning. If anyone is laughable, it is you sunbeam. You are in denial. And way out of your depth.
6ºThe more research you do, the more obvious it becomes that not only is the US not the best country in the world, it's actually among the worst. And among all 33 developed first world countries, the US is far and away the worst in many areas.
- Worst in wealth gap
- Worst in education
- Worst in education costs
- Worst by over 8 years in average life expectancy (US is 75.9 years, no one else is under 84)
- Worst in minimum wage
- Worst in healthcare
- Worst in per-person healthcare costs
- Worst in gun murders per 100,000 people by over 9x the next closest nation
- Worst in infrastructure
- Highest maternal mortality rate ON EARTH (over 200+ nations)
- Lowest ranked in freedom
7ºCasey Sawyer Actually you don't know what UHC is. I have universal healthcare here in the UK. You certainly do not in the US. Do you have free GP visits? No. Do you have a free ambulance service? No. Do you have free operations and aftercare? No. Do you have all US citizens enrolled to get healthcare? No you don't. You don't record infant mortality that differently - do you actually know what it is? You life span compared to Japan which has UHC in it's own format, is around 6 years lower. You are 4 years lower than the UK. And it is not car accidents or suicide either. You haven't a clue what it is.
8ºOur healthcare system isn’t preventative, it’s reactive.
You go to the doctor, they give horrible advice then send you on your way.
Then of course when your condition becomes worse, they’re quick to push pills on you.
Look at all the “obese” people being prescribed diabetes medicine to lose weight even though they don’t have diabetes but yet they’re giving pills which further puts them at risk of developing other conditions.
Instead of the doctor finding out why they’re overweight or obese and either getting them the proper mental health counseling (if they struggle with binge eating or eating disorders), connecting them with a nutritionist to help them understand how to create balanced meals or educating them on lifestyle adjustments that will make it easier to manage their weight, they’re prescribed pills that they will have to continue taking for the rest of their lives if they want to keep the weight off.
An overweight person goes to the doctor and is told to lose weight and then receives very little guidance on how to successfully lose the weight and keep it off.
Therefore, they’re more susceptible to other diseases and illnesses like heart disease, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, etc.
Most of these conditions can be prevented with proper education and showing people HOW to implement it but instead they just hear “you need to lose weight” and of course when they don’t, they’re given one of many pills.
9ºCasey Sawyer "Universal health coverage means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.
Every country has a different path to achieving UHC and deciding what to cover based on the needs of their people and the resources at hand. However the importance of access to health services and information as a basic human right is universal.
To make health for all a reality, all people must have access to high quality services for their health and the health of their families and communities. To do so, skilled health workers providing quality, people-centred care; and policy-makers committed to investing in universal health coverage are essential.
Universal health coverage requires strong, people-centred primary health care. Good health systems are rooted in the communities they serve. They focus not only on preventing and treating disease and illness, but also on helping to improve well-being and quality of life." The US doesn't do that does it? Hundreds of thousands filing for bankruptcy from medical bills every year. Millions without health insurance so cannot access healthcare. You clearly have no idea of what UHC is, now you do, if you bother to read it.