Health care - death by spreadsheet, leading cause of bankruptcy, denial of payment after approval, uninsured children, etc. We've all heard the stories. Well - I've perused the WHO's annual health care report for 2006 and looked into their statistical annex . Take a look at a few numbers and you can see just where the "Greatest Health Care in the World" ranks.
More.....
The numbers below represent per capita cost of health care in dollars, life expectancy at birth, and infant mortality/1000 before age 5. Costs are for 2003 and statistics are for 2004 (latest available).
USA $5,711 78 8
Norway $3,809 80 4
Switzerland $3,776 81 5
Iceland $3,110 81 3
Germany $3,001 79 5
Canada $2,989 80 6
France $2,902 80 5
Australia $2,874 81 5
Sweden $2,704 81 4
Ireland $2,496 78 6
UK $2,389 79 6
Italy $2,266 81 5
Japan $2,244 82 4
Finland $2,108 79 4
Greece $1,997 79 5
Israel $1,911 80 6
New Zeland $1,893 80 6
Spain $1,853 80 5
Cuba $251 78 7
We are first in cost by a wide margin and last in life expectancy and last in infant mortality among this group of 'civilized' nations. We can't even beat CUBA!
I even left out a dozen or two small countries who also have better numbers than ours. (Malta, Singapore, Netherlands, Luxembourg, etc.).
The next time somebody warns you about "Socialized Medicine" ask them to explain why we pay double what France does or triple what Spain does, for worse care.
That's right - WORSE CARE. TWICE as many American babies die as in Finland, Japan, Sweden, Norway or Iceland. American adults die 3-4 years sooner than Italians, Australians, Japanese or the Swiss. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to meet the grim reaper later rather than sooner.
How is it that our Republican Senators and the Right-Wingnuttia are able to sleep at night, knowing they're protecting those who profiteer while our children die?
S-CHIP is a first step. Our leading Democratic candidates have plans that will take a second step. But until we eliminate health care that puts profit before patients, shareholder care before medical care, we Americans will continue to die for the almighty dollar.