Wow. I'm overwhelmed by how much of a scumbag that Dr. Reddy is, and disgusted by Bush's idiotically blind adherence to his anti-government healthcare principles to the extent of costing children's lives (which is about as obviously against his purported Christian faith as anything could be).
I honestly suspect one of the major reasons why U.S. healthcare costs are so out of control is the existence of a completely unnecessary, profit-hungry layer of bureaucracy in the form of these private insurance companies. We pay barely over half the amount per capita for health care than they do (including taxes) (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/23/34970246.pdf); we have a higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality rate, and the U.S. has fewer doctors, nurses, and hospital beds per capita than the OECD average. Those facts pretty much speak for themselves. An independent foundation dedicated to better health care in the States (http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=283969) cites higher prices for health services as the reason for the extremely high U.S. health spending, but I don't really know how much those high prices are affected by the insurance companies. I don't doubt they're heavily affected by doctors and hospitals being in the private sector (with their payments self-determined instead of being determined by what government will pay) and by drug companies being allowed to advertise their products extensively, though.
My understanding is that about 40% of U.S. health care spending goes towards the bureaucracy - just the paper-pushing aspect of it. No wonder ours costs less. Also, about 40% of people don't/can't pay their hospital bills, which means the people who ARE paying, and their insurance companies, are absorbing an absolutely massive shrinkage rate. Even if the insurance companies were honestly trying to help people, those two facts would add up to higher costs.
Oh, and you know that the stat you quoted only refers to government spending, right? That is, the American government pays substantially more per capita to insure a small percentage of citizens, than we pay to insure all of them.
You have to wonder what kind of a strain it would put on their system to have to treat all the people who couldn't afford it before. I mean, legally, they're supposed to either treat or find treatment for everyone, and then bill them; but it's well-known that many people who can't pay simply don't go. Or they go, get the bare minimum of acute care treatment, and get tossed out.
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Date: 2007-07-23 03:16 am (UTC)I honestly suspect one of the major reasons why U.S. healthcare costs are so out of control is the existence of a completely unnecessary, profit-hungry layer of bureaucracy in the form of these private insurance companies. We pay barely over half the amount per capita for health care than they do (including taxes) (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/23/34970246.pdf); we have a higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality rate, and the U.S. has fewer doctors, nurses, and hospital beds per capita than the OECD average. Those facts pretty much speak for themselves. An independent foundation dedicated to better health care in the States (http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=283969) cites higher prices for health services as the reason for the extremely high U.S. health spending, but I don't really know how much those high prices are affected by the insurance companies. I don't doubt they're heavily affected by doctors and hospitals being in the private sector (with their payments self-determined instead of being determined by what government will pay) and by drug companies being allowed to advertise their products extensively, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-23 11:02 am (UTC)Oh, and you know that the stat you quoted only refers to government spending, right? That is, the American government pays substantially more per capita to insure a small percentage of citizens, than we pay to insure all of them.
You have to wonder what kind of a strain it would put on their system to have to treat all the people who couldn't afford it before. I mean, legally, they're supposed to either treat or find treatment for everyone, and then bill them; but it's well-known that many people who can't pay simply don't go. Or they go, get the bare minimum of acute care treatment, and get tossed out.