Click to enlarge — World Bank/Mother Jones
Yes, all those countries paying a lot less than Americans for their healthcare mostly have what pundits now call “single-payer” health insurance coverage. Mostly, those countries call it a National Health Service and have no hangups over discussing socialized medicine. Since we live in the land that invented McCarthyism you won’t hear those terms except as a pejorative from fulltime politicians.
Insurance companies, healthcare providers, corporate pharma? They simply donate to both parties and now own two complete sets of plastic fantastic Congressional bobbleheads.
Don’t worry, this number will come down under ObamaCare, as elderly and other unworthies are denied health care to cut costs. IPAB is the key player. They recognized how controversial it would be, and wrote the law so that you are not allowed to repeal IPAB except in a certain time frame and with a certain number of votes. ObamaCare itself should be thrown out as unconstitutional for this provision alone.
Notice the trick of cutting off the bottom of the chart to make the disparity look larger.
Exactly so. This same trick is used together with the trick of different (agenda enhancing) scaling between the x and y axis in many of the pro AGW graphs available.
Doesn’t matter as much here, but notice the boldness of the USA line vs the others. In AGW, they put temperatures in a bright red, having all the ‘hockey sticks’ obscured underneath.
https://climateaudit.files.wordpress.com/2005/11/eos_fig1.jpg
https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch6s6-6.html
One of the best reasons to question AGW is the Vostok core samples which show CO2 to LAG temperature by 600-1000 years. You could argue that increased temperatures raise atmospheric CO2 levels. Until the religion of AGW can explain this, I remain skeptical.
https://skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature.htm
This is the wrong message.
For a real comparison we should examine value per dollar.
It’s not pretty.
https://forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/06/16/u-s-healthcare-ranked-dead-last-compared-to-10-other-countries/#11c7f0f2576f
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-best-healthcare-systems-world-luca-dezzani-md
Lets see…
we should also add in the ability of WORK in most of the other nations..
In the USA there are about 50-75 million jobs.. 1 person is paying for 5…
In the past it was 1 person paying for 3..Generally a spouse and 1 child..
I like numbers abit, and its fun that we cant keep Enough jobs out there to have 100,000,000 working..
BUT the USA has a population problem..thats not been FIXED.. And that is a declining Population.. So that we WANT IMMIGRANTS.. WE PAY smart people from other countries to COME HERE…and we KEEP THEM..(thats another subject).. To keep the population UP…
MUCH of the problem, comes with Automation and Corp CUTS, and Cutting hours on employees..to CUT TAXES and paying Health care..
For those that dont get SOME OF THIS…
In the past, Medicare had 5 tiers. aND ANYONE OF THEM COULD decline A MEDICAL EXPENSE..
More money went to the 5 tiers(insurance agencies) then to the Person/hospital/doctors…
The REASONS for medicare and Social sec. are STILL RELEVANT.. LOWER income people DONT MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO SAVE ANYTHING..and 60+% of the USA is UNDER the poverty level..
A rich person told me that he Paid more in taxes then the poor do..and I suggested he was wrong..
100 poor people spending money, on bills, Cars, Insurance, Licenses, taxes, Food, Entertainment…Will SPEND MORE and make the system WORK, then he ever could..
Its not TAXES..
Its HOW much we spend, and WHERE the money is going..
If a rich person has TONS of money doing nothing…ITS DOING NOTHING.. And buying 1 thing that costs 1 million dollars, IS NOT helping the economy..
For anyone that can do abit of math, and You know WHERE the taxes are.. 30% wages, Shipping handling, interstate, About 5-10%, Distribution at EACH LEVEL..another 10%..Sales another 5%.. keep adding it up, and the Farther way a product is shipped, and EACH distribution point ADDS TONS OF COST AND TAXES… And taxes are not from 1 person..YOU PAY ALL THE TAXES for a company..from Utilities to the wages of the employees.. Once you compound all of this..and then a STORE raises the price 3-10 times to cover profits and Labor for 50 people.. That can of soup at $2 cost the store $0.25-.50 cents..
AND JUST a comment..
MOST types of government CAN work…NONE can work if the top is corrupt..
I agree with you.
I usually don’t read your stuff because of your stuck keyboard, but for some reason I did this time. And I agree with most of what you said except that you’re wrong for sure about most types of governments being viable if there was no corruption at the top. Almost no types of governments are self sustaining regardless of that issue.
In the US, the top 5% of the health care needy spend 80% of the total expenses.
I’m for a full-blown Bernie Sanders style system, but that the most needy %5 percent are people that possibly evolution says “Didn’t pass the test”.
If a 5 year old has terminal brain cancer, I don’t know that the rest of us should be shouldering those expenses.
I have as much sympathy as the next guy, but if a very small number of people are fucking up the system, let those people be supported by charity donations and corporate donations to fund research into the bleeding edge.
The idea that Jack and Jill average have the big wallet to pay to subsidize the $5 million brain cancer kid isn’t fair.
Let the fucking megacorps that can flush $1.2 billion on a rudderless Hillary 2016 pay for that shit. Google, Apple, the Facebook asswipe what his name should be forced to pay for what they advocate.
Let Hillary and friends pay for the $5 million brain cancer kids, and let the rest of us have a reasonable single payer healthcare system.
The average joe wins and the people who like flushing money down the Hillary 2016 toilet win too!
Also take the people who weight 280 Lbs or more and split them out into a “Save The Walruses” healthcare system.
It’s bullshit for others to pay for people that willingly create fiascos.
Fuck that shit. Eat yourself to death on your own dime.
Yeah, take those skinny ass druggies and throw them the hell out, too.
And don’t forget about all the stupid kids who play contact sports that turn their brains to jelly by the time they’re 30.
What do you think a risk pool is? Having millions of people paying more than they spend on the chance that they might need at some point more than they can afford.
I spent my 20s with total medical bill of zero. Health insurance would have cost me about $6000 or less(maybe just 2k). Would have been worthwhile in case there was a major accident.
If you collect insurance and then when people get a major problem say you are not worthy, then lots of people will not sign up. This will require insurers to charge even more, and then more people will not sign up.
Just like ObamaCare.
HM—you drank the koolaide. Europe provides 100% healthcare for EVERYONE at half the cost.
I do agree with your sentiment however which is why I have always argued for “two tier” medicine and a Death Panel. Seems like the common sense of recognizing limits to me.
I assume Europe does have limits ….. whether they deny care to 5 yo or not, I don’t know.
I usually don’t read your stuff because of your stuck keyboard, but for some reason I did this time. And I agree with most of what you said except that you’re wrong for sure about most types of governments being viable if there was no corruption at the top
The reason America’s health care costs have gone up, even before 1995 (when it was higher than any other country) is from having more doctors, on the books. I seriously doubt that there is a single unemployed doctor, in America. Well maybe this one, that just shot up a hospital. But he was probably the first. Every one coming out of medical school is guaranteed a position, in a hospital. And US banks will always support doctors starting their own private practice. Most the one’s I’ve known, in private practice, also work part time at a hospital. How many non-professionals can boast of that much job security.
But when there are way too many doctors, out stripping the country’s need. Something’s got to give. So the patients feel it in the wallet. As the system, billing everyone more, to cover the doctor glut. None of these medical institutions have the guts to turn doctors away. And certainly the medical colleges aren’t going to slow down, turning them out.
What got us in this predicament was the Vietnam war. When tons of students enrolled in medical school (if their parents could afford it) to avoid the draft. It was either that, or become a lawyer (and we have too many of those too). Or take off for Canada, or Europe. Like Mitt Romney did (France). Until the draft was over. That’s why America has more doctors, than anyone else. And more costly health care, to pay for them all.
What we need, is a moratorium on training new doctors. Or at least one, on all foreign doctors entering the US. We’ve got to get the numbers down, somehow. Even if it means mothballing a few US medical colleges, for some period of time.
I’ll bet Harvard Med will scream about that.
I agree with you.
thanks for sharing this articles
Well that was a great thing to know, Thanks you, keep it up.
How many stories have you seen where a foreign child or adult comes to the US for treatment because their government health care turned them away? The truth is good health care costs a lot of money. A lot of money, and most people in the US even if they don’t pay a dime for health insurance can get health care. You go to an emergency room you get treated health insurance or no insurance. No matter if you can pay or not pay. This to me already is an entitlement that’s not written anywhere but in the minds of health professionals who won’t turn away a sick person. Sure we need to better address those who need better health insurance coverage. But everyone is going to have to pay a lot more to continue to receive the best care possible. Otherwise we will end up like most government single payer programs that tell you what they will cover. Then where will you go when you really need that special care?