US health care is the best, right?

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   f_hruzposted 14 years ago

   US health care is the best, right?
   
   Have you had your check up lately?
   
   

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   dallas93444posted 14 years ago

   The U.S. does not have the best health care system in the world - it has the best emergency care system in the world. Advanced U.S. medical technology has not translated into better health statistics for its citizens; indeed, the U.S. ranks near the bottom in list after list of international comparisons. Part of the problem is that there is more profit in a pound of cure than an ounce of prevention. Another part of the problem is that America has the highest level of poverty and income inequality among all rich nations, and poverty affects one's health much more than the limited ministrations of a formal health care system.
   A common theme is how the U.S. health care system stacks up when compared to the rest of the world and the impact that reform could have on it. Recent surveys show that the majority of Americans believe that despite spotty coverage, high costs and other problems, the U.S. health care system—and the quality of health care delivered—is the best in the world. But is it really?
   
   An analysis from the Urban Institute looks at the evidence on how quality of care in the United States compares to that in other countries and provides implications for health reform. Authors Elizabeth Docteur and Robert Berenson find that international studies of health care quality do not in and of themselves provide a definitive answer to this question.
   
   What they do show is that the evidence for American superiority in quality of care (or lack thereof) is a mixed bag, with the nation doing relatively well in some areas—such as cancer care—and less well in others—such as mortality from treatable and preventable conditions.
   
   And while evidence base is incomplete and suffers from other limitations, it does not provide support for the oft-repeated claim that the “U.S. health care is the best in the world.” In fact, there is no hard evidence that identifies particular areas in which U.S. health care quality is truly exceptional.

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   f_hruzposted 14 years ago

   This is the link to the cartoon .... http://opti.atspace.com/US_HealthCare.gif

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   onegoodwomanposted 14 years ago

   Having never lived in another country, I really can't compare it via first hand experience. 
   
   What I do know is this, citizens of many nations come to the USofA for healthcare.  Some go to Israel, a world leader in medicine and science.  I would expect, some seek better or more advanced care in other developed countries as well.
   
   Some US citizens go across the Mexican border, to purchase drugs made here, because they are not so heavily taxed there.  To me, that is a disgrace!
   
   
   The ongoing healthcare debate, really comes down to what you expect your government to provide you with, and what you are willing to give  up to secure that  provision for yourself.  I am on the record,  I just want to be left alone.  The government need not protect me from myself!  They will serve me better by protecting our borders.  I will eat healthy to be healthy.  My personal history proves that I take my lumps as they come.
   
   Government assistance in any form, should be for those facing catastophies.

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   BobbiRantposted 14 years ago

   Well since I was just reading how American's life span has gone down, drastically for the first time in a long time, I guess that's a big Not!

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   Wayne Brownposted 14 years ago

   It is really relative to what value you assign to the word, "best". In terms of the potential for great medical care relative to the skills of our doctors and medical staff, the R&D, and the equipment it has produced, we are probably at least among the best.  Now, if you are a person who assigns "best" to only that which is "free", then we have a long way to go.  In attempting to emulate the socialized health systems of other countries, we can destroy much of what we have today and guarantee ourselves a very mediocre health system which does not attract talent and does not motivate investment, initiative, or new technology.  Who cares if healthcare is free if it sucks. WB

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   Freeway Flyerposted 14 years ago

   The term "best" is tricky to define. What I find interesting, however, is how often Americans will make this claim as if it is common knowledge. Of course, they also make knee-jerk, generic references to the evils of so-called "socialized medicine." People tend to stick with what they are comfortable with, and they are very susceptible to propaganda that encourages this tendency.

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