US Scores Dead Last Again in Health Care Study

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Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on health care, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system.

A nurse at the University of Miami hospital checks on a patient while President Obama is seen on television. (photo: AFP)

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Comments

+6 # Guest 2010-06-24 13:24

I recently spent five days in OLVG hospital in Amsterdam. The problem was a fairly serious one and I feel I need not get into that. However, the hotel called a doctor who visited me in our room, gave me a thorough exam, and arranged to have me checked in through the emergency room. The care was first class in all respects, especially the attention of the doctors and nurses who all actually took the time to sit down and answer all my questions. In flawless English. Not only that, I received written reports upon discharge that could be used for insurance and giving to my doctor here.

+2 # Guest 2010-06-24 15:58

How disgusting that Americans will elect, again, people who keep affordable health care at a distance. I keep hearing about the poor folks who don't have health care and wonder about those of us who are stuck paying well over 400 per month with a 1000 dollar deductable and copays! Holy crap. Will i ever be free of that?! Lets here it for capitalism... jingle jingle jingle.

+1 # Guest 2010-06-25 06:47

hello we just passed a health reform bill. Obama is the first president to achieve this milestone. It still takes two years to fully take effect. Hopefully once re-elected, Obama will augment the bill to remove the Republican additions that tarnished the bill. For now at least though, poor and uninsured will be covered, including all children which is the number one goal acheived in my mind. Britain has been very bad too, but similar measures already implemented there have gradually started to improve that system.

+2 # Guest 2010-06-25 04:55

i am 60 years old. fairly decent health.i have asthma but controlled by meds. expensive meds. i lost health ins. when my hubby retired. i have a very expensive plan had it for two years. they have increased my premiums 3 times because of my age and $5,000 deductible. health care should not be a commodity. it is a right!

+3 # Guest 2010-06-25 06:51

You have the right to affordable health care. Corporations have taken over right now. The GOP leads the corporate realm, and are the CEO's Golden Boys. Although many Democrats are in line to collect their silver.

i agree with you 100%, and want a small portion of my tax dollars to help people like you. We must speak out against senseless wars and the mis-spending of our tax dollars. We are the bread and butter of the U.S. of A., the working Americans, not the corporate bigots and the corporate loving constituency that largely sits on their duffs and spends working man's dollars corruptly and wastefully.

+1 # Guest 2010-06-25 06:48

Don't worry, the republicans are going to win in November. As that old father of modern day conservativism, Ronald Reagan. said: "Ya ain't seen nut'ing yet!"

Yes, indeed, the American tax payer along with the American voter are their own worst enemy!

After all, some get the very thing they wish for!

+1 # Guest 2010-06-25 10:22

While the Obama "reforms" take place the insurance companies are doubling their cost. On Medicare - there is not a doctor (for profit clinics everywhere) - that takes a medicare B patient - not enough $PROFIT for US$ doctors.
This US$rael Money Culture is destroying the environment - the system is unsustainable – www.costofwar.com

+1 # Guest 2010-06-25 10:44

One example of poor care leading to higher cost: an obese, middle-aged diabetic tries to eat rigt, and has multiple medications to lower blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. This is an extremely common profile in the US and Canada. In Canada, regular visits to the family doctor every few months, blood tests and visits to specialists when necessary are without cost to the patient, and medications are usually covered.
Without insurance, or with steep co-payments, many patients who fit this profile will not be on the standard treatment protocol and will be more likely to experience complications from the diabetes, hardening of the arteries, or heart disease and stroke, which require emergency intervention. This must be provided to anyone who needs it, and many hospitals are equipped with the very expensive equipment and highly trained teams needed at this time. So in this way, the economic advantages do not favour prevention or management over expenses down the road.

0 # Guest 2010-06-26 21:02

Dawn, You have a right to free speech. You have a right to vote. You don't have a right to force someone else to provide you services or products for a price they are unwilling to do so. Forcing someone else to serve you without regard to the compensation the service provide deems acceptable is called slavery. Let's just say: as a country, we should find a way to provide affordable basic services to all.

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