Tuesday, March 30, 2010

U.S. Private Health Care System – The Worst in the World...EXCEPT For ALL Others....










Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:

US: 93%
UK: 15%
Canada: 43%

Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month of referral:

US: 77%
UK: 40%
Canada: 43%

Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:

US: 65%
UK: 46%
Canada: 42%

Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:

US: 90%
UK: 15%
Canada: 43%


“The majority of Americans still believe Health Care needs reforming...”  (a Liberal)

Yes, Conservatives want REAL Health Care REFORM – reform that reins in the COSTS!

I saw an article on cancer survival rates that put the USA's 5-year survival rates on early detected cancers at over 90% and Europe's and Canada's at under 85%.

The other thing I find endlessly amusing is how so many naive Leftists still think, "there's no mandate forcing you to buy health insurance in this Bill."

YES there IS!

And the fine is up to 2.5% of your income by 2016!
 

Yes, and businesses can opt out of paying health insurance premiums by simply paying a $2,000/year fee per employee to the government!

Let's see, a $2K/year fee to the feds against $15K to $25K per year in health insurance premiums per worker???....Hmmmm....Looks like an easy decision, "No employer-driven health-care for YOU."

THAT, by the way, is the "trigger" for the public option."

And again, I've said for a VERY long time, a "universal public option" CAN be made workable, IF (1) we roll Medicare and Medicaid into it, (2) bulk up the enforcement arm and ratchet up the penalties for fraud and abuse and (3) strictly RATION and RESTRICT that public option (by offering a max of 4 to 6 visits per year AND up to a max of, say, $10K/year in treatments), so long as available "gap insurance" is there for those willing and able to pay the premiums from private insurers.

That way, "the least productive people are rationed and restricted" and businesses and municipalities will be freed from the burden of providing BILLIONS of $$$ in free healthcare, making them much more profitable and competitive and thus making the American worker much more competi8tive in the global labor market!

The ONLY problem with America's current health care delivery system is COST, and that's because we simply GIVE too much costly and advanced health care away to too many people who don't pay any premiums for it.

That's the problem we must solve.


H/T to Skunkfeathers for some GREAT stats

6 comments:

Paul Mitchell said...

You want insult added? The United States currently is serving more people with FREE! medical services than both Canada and Great Britain combined. According to the WHO Report, the leftist healthcare Bible, the US gives free medical services to over 135 million people. Canada serves 23.5 million, GB serves 52.35 million. Go figure, even the WHO Report proves that universal healthcare is a failure.

JMK said...

I knew we gave away tons of free, highly advanced and very costly health care via our Emergency Rooms, but I didn't know it was 135 MILLION served!

Go figure!

Of course, all that "free health care" (along with all that Medicare and Medicaid fraud) is what's driving up the cost of health care in this country.

That's why we have to look at ways to seriously get those COSTS under control.

One way would be to offer a bare-bones "expanded public option"...a heavily rationed and tightly restricted public option, along with a well-staffed enforcement arm and ratcheted up penalties for fraud and abuse.

We'd need to roll BOTH Medicare and Medicaid into this "universal public option," and ration/limit access to care through it.

That way, the basic intent of such a program would be limit COST by limiting ACCESS to CARE.

That would free businesses and Municipalities from the burdens of providing health care "free" to all employees, thereby making them more competitive and profitable within the global marketplace, while making the American worker a "bargain," in the global labor market.

Ironically enough, there's a lot of resistance Left & Right to that idea, but aside from advocating an equally, if not perhaps even MORE unpalatable option, of a "roll your own," pay-to-play market-system sans ANY government involvement at all, where are the other alternatives?

Seniors don't want their "free" Medicare touched....and they vote. The "poor" don't want their "free" Medicaid touched...and many employees don't want their "free" employer-driven health care touched.

We ALL seem to want a VERY EXPENSIVE commodity for "free," and that's what's driving up costs.

Apparently, those in Washington, D.C. don't think things are bad enough, because they've offered a plan that will actually raise costs and make things worse!

When things get dire, you'll see costs get cut without any concern for "what the people want."

JMK said...

WoW!

never had that happen before!

As I said, I knew about the fact that we gave tons of advanced, very expensive health care away "free," but I had no idea it was to 135 MILLION people!

The primary problem with Obama/Pelosi-care is that it does NOTHING to bring down those costs.

It'll have to be "fixed" down the road....though it would be best to tear it up by the roots and start over.

JMK said...

That's weird....now yesterday's earlier comment just re-appeared!

That's an odd glitch!

Skunkfeathers said...

Those stats came from an Investors Business Daily article, highlighted on the blog Right Truth, a week or so ago ;)

JMK said...

IBD is absolutely awesome!

I love the Journal, but IBD is even better. One thing, is that, unlike the WSJ, IBD does NOT rally behind ILLEGAL immigration.

American Ideas Click Here!