Our broken health care systen
by Morra Aarons Mele

As we all get ready to start our New Year's diets and vow to live healthier, it's important to think about how America's health care system figures into our nation's health. Echidne of the Snakes has an excellent post highlighting our gluttonous, bloated, in-need- of-a-detox healthcare system. The liberal blogs this morning are abuzz with talk of Paul Krugman's editorial in the New York Times:

The U.S. health care system is a scandal and a disgrace. But maybe, just maybe, 2007 will be the year we start the move toward universal coverage.

In 2005, almost 47 million Americans - including more than 8 million children - were uninsured, and many more had inadequate insurance.

Apologists for our system try to minimize the significance of these numbers. Many of the uninsured, asserted the 2004 Economic Report of the President, "remain uninsured as a matter of choice."

And then you wake up. A scathing article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times described how insurers refuse to cover anyone with even the slightest hint of a pre-existing condition. People have been denied insurance for reasons that range from childhood asthma to a "past bout of jock itch."

Some say that we can't afford universal health care, even though every year lack of insurance plunges millions of Americans into severe financial distress and sends thousands to an early grave. But every other advanced country somehow manages to provide all its citizens with essential care. The only reason universal coverage seems hard to achieve here is the spectacular inefficiency of the U.S. health care system.

Americans spend more on health care per person than anyone else - almost twice as much as the French, whose medical care is among the best in the world. Yet we have the highest infant mortality and close to the lowest life expectancy of any wealthy nation. How do we do it?

So the first day of 2007, many prominent bloggers have led with fixing health care. I like this- drumming this discussion in 2007 might lead to real change for our healthcare system in 2008.

Submitted by Morra Aarons Mele (view blog) on Mon, 01/01/2007 - 10:39am

Comments

 

Health insurance

Americans spend more on health care per person than anyone else - almost twice as much as the French, whose medical care is among the best in the world. Yet we have the highest infant mortality and close to the lowest life expectancy of any wealthy nation. How do we do it?

Here's my views about health care:

I heard that one can't seek treatment in hospitals in the USA unless you have insurance. If this is true, it's a good things (and a bad thing for the poor!).

Here in Singapore, we rely heavily on CPF (Central Provident Funds!) which is about 20% of monthly savings set aside mandatorily for this purpose till you are 60. Once you reach 60, you have your money back - in monthly instalments!

The one reason why health costs are up is due to 2 reasons:-
1. you are paying for research & technology into drugs (there are more than 3000 drugs out there with each grug being generic like the Viagra...longterm consumption effects? Nobody knows yet because the drugs are new)
2. you are also paying for the ever-growing salaries of nurses and doctors (this is understandable although nurses' salaries in Singapore are undermined.

And a few reasons why infant (or even adult) mortality is high?
1) Safety precautions/child discipline often not put into place (for children). For adults, unscrupulous companies do not own hazard-protection gears for their employees to use.
2) Our diets - if we are to continue following the USA Food Pyramid System, we are bound for DOOM.
3) The media refuses to tell you that heart problems as well as diabetis are the real epidemics compared to "human-engineered" epidemics like the Bird Flu.
4) Natural body defenders are missing in genetically-modified food. So what if you have seedless grapes, etc? You won't be eating healthily!
5) Major diseases are big businesses and guess who are reaping the rewards?

How many of us really know the REAL diet facts and how many of us are silently killing ourselves without even knowing that there are alternatives without drugs?

Look at peanut-butter - there's trans-fat in there but they don't label it. 50% fat-free means 50% FAT. Salad can't be healthy all the time if lots of mayonnaise is used. I can go on and on.

I am not against ALL drugs...just that so many of them are being reproduced and sold under different brands at different prices. And consumers have headaches just choosing which brand of aspirin to use!

Please feel free to comment (sorry about this looooong post!)

Submitted by qutepangy on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 20:53