Terrific Series on Health Care
posted by Frank Pasquale
The debate over health care is shaping up into a showdown between further marketization of an American system already an outlier in its degree of commerciality, or comparative analysis of how other countries manage to spend less and cover more. NPR’s latest series comparing the French, Dutch, Swiss, British, and German health care systems to the US is a terrific contribution. Here’s the bottom line:
47 million people in the United States lack health coverage. It’s one reason the U.S. ranks 29th in the world in terms of life expectancy and at or near the bottom of most international health care comparisons. [But] many of the universal health care systems in Europe provide high-quality health care to all residents, at a much lower cost than what people in the United States spend on health care. Waiting times for care aren’t all that different from the United States . . . . [and] the countries of Western Europe rank higher on most measures of good health.
If the mainstream media had any sense of professional responsibility, this issue would be at the center of the current campaign. Until it is, Glenn Greenwald’s sad indictment will ring true: “our elections are determined by . . . petty, personality-based distractions.”
August 24, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Posted in: Health Law
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Responses (4)
DB - August 25, 2008 at 6:12 am
Is there even a single legitimate study suggesting that the U.S. healthcare system’s lack of insurance coverage is even a marginally significant factor in our life expectancy? The studies I recall seeing show little relationship in advanced countries between the system and one’s health, because marginal life expectancy is mainly dictated by lifestyle choices, including obesity, violence, drunk driving, risky sexual behavior, and so on.
Nathan Cortez - August 25, 2008 at 12:19 pm
DB, the Institute of Medicine has found that around 18,000 uninsured Americans die every year from treatable conditions. I’d say that’s a direct link between lack of insurance and life expectancy.
DB - August 25, 2008 at 4:58 pm
But almost three million people a year die in the US. 18K is unlikely to have a major effect on lifespan, dying of a “treatable” disease doesn’t mean you’d be cured of the disease if it was treated, not everyone with insurance gets treated, and the “18K minus” figure must be balanced against people in the U.S. who are saved who aren’t elsewhere. So, no direct link.
Anon - August 25, 2008 at 5:09 pm
The DB’s of the world kinda remind me of Stalin’s famous “you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette” line about soviet ideology. Even if 18,000 die preventably, hey, look at the long run–we’ve got a “freer market” (whatever that means). And of course he gives no data on the “people in the U.S. who are saved who aren’t elsewhere.” Jingoism or handwaving?
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