USA is Number 1

Filed in National by on May 3, 2012

. . . in health care costs. A new study by The Commonwealth Fund finds that the United States spends more on health care than any other industrial county.

The U.S. spends far more on health care than any other country. However this high spending cannot be attributed to higher income, an older population, or greater supply or utilization of hospitals and doctors. Instead, the findings suggest the higher spending is more likely due to higher prices and perhaps more readily accessible technology and greater obesity.

And you before you right-wingers get all high and mighty, here’s this tidbit:

Health care quality in the U.S. varies and is not notably superior to the far less expensive systems in the other study countries.

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A Dad, a husband and a data guru

Comments (11)

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  1. Rustydils says:

    Health care is a big problem,and not easily solved. But one thing is for sure, more insurance is not the answer. I was watching the movie Guess who is coming to dinner with Sidney poitier, circa 1967, and spencer tracy, who plays the owner of San Francisco New Paper, backs into a fancy hotrod, and smashes the whole side of the hotrod. He gives the guy 50 bucks, and then calls it even. Imagine that. The price of Body work has disproportionally increased compared to other industries. Why, because now its mostly all paid for by insurance. And the consumer no longer is in a position to hold anyone accountable. Same thing with health insurance, the more insurance you offer, the more everyone charges, the hospitals, doctors, nurses pharmesuticals, everything, because, the consumer is no longer the main person holding them accountable. The more insurance, the higher prices are, so the more insurance you need, so the higher prices go. It is a never ending upward spiral. The only answer is to get back to a place where medical cost are touched by consumer markets, like other goods and services we buy. Right now, medical cost are like a regulated Utility, Instead, we nead the medical to be touched by private markets, where consumers have choice, between public and private carriers, state to state. It is not an easy problem to solve, but obviously what everyone has been trying is not working, or you would not be writing this article. The only thing that will work is getting medical touched by private markets, where consumers have full access to shop around, hence, the medical profession has to compete. That is the only answer, Basically the opposite of Obama Care.

  2. cassandra m says:

    Yes, well, I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how you are supposed to shop for health care when you are in the middle of a cardiac arrest.

    All of you faux free-marketeers need to show us your instructions to your nearest and dearest for soliciting 3 bids for ambulance service when you are stroking out. Otherwise, STFU.

  3. Liberal Elite says:

    @Rd “But one thing is for sure, more insurance is not the answer.”

    It’s the ONLY answer. Going to a single payer system would cut our national health care costs in half without ANY real reduction in quality.

    The losers would be the middlemen (aka insurance executives) who profit handsomely with the current system. The problem is that they donate HEAVILY to both parties to preserve the status quo at the expense of our nation’s health (both figuratively and literally).

    This is the problem in having a political system that can be purchased. Sometimes the purchasers screw the country.

  4. liberalgeek says:

    Hey Rusty, which enviable economy features that sort of healthcare system?

  5. Truth Teller says:

    Cubans live longer than we do on their island

  6. Que Pasa says:

    No Cass, you’re confusing, purposely or otherwise, healthcare with health insurance.

  7. Doug Beatty says:

    Well, I’m a pro-gay marriage, pro safe and legal abortion, anti death penalty dem, but gobsmacked ben thinks I’m a gay republican so I’ll jump in here. We suck at healthcare as a nation.

    AHCA sucks more. I favor universal single payer with a robust private option. Do we have universal single payer now? To an extent we do.

    A pitiful extent IMO. Sure if you are having an emergency you get treatment. If you are dying six months from now, not so much. We will universally collect the corpse if nobody claims it though.

    One side wants free market and the other wants to destroy the free market. Meh. I’m not moving to Canada but I’m not terribly impressed with solutions offered so far.

    Think the red team’s plan should have been accepted immediately though. Because now we would be in a stronger position to point out that it ain’t enough but that’s just me. Judging by posts from both ends of the spectrum many folks seem more interested in the fight than victory. Just sayin’

    We do pay entirely too much for too little. @rustydills, I agree that we need to make competition more viable for a private option. Would be interested in economic modeling and analysis to investigate how lowering cost of private care might free up more access to public care. Not ready to scrap either. Check back with me in a week. 🙂

  8. socialistic ben says:

    It was the talk of guns and “partner” and “marry into my family” I may not be fully accustomed to your style. That’s all 🙂

  9. Geezer says:

    Hold on a second here, Rusty. You do realize, I hope, that even in 1967, you couldn’t just hand a guy 50 bucks and call it even. It might not have been the least realistic aspect of that movie, but only because it has so much competition

    QP: A single-payer system is not insurance in its current sense, in which companies vie to stick each other with the bills. So no, she’s not confusing anything, though she does badly overstate the savings, which would be about 25%.

  10. liberalgeek says:

    Shhh… Rusty thinks Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was a documentary.

  11. cassandra m says:

    I’m not even talking about savings, much less overstating them.

    All I’m asking for is for someone to show me exactly how they make all of this free-market BS work when your life is on the line. Because if you can teach the rest of us how to get three bids for an appendectomy when your kid’s appendix has burst, you may have saved us all. And on that — there’s crickets.