Sunday, August 23, 2009

By T.R. Reid -- Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World - washingtonpost.com

By T.R. Reid -- Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World - washingtonpost.com

Shared via AddThis
Sphere: Related Content
Posted by Ellipses at 8:09 PM

4 comments:

Cylinsier said...

Some of my favorite highlights:

Wait times: "In Japan, waiting times are so short that most patients don't bother to make an appointment. One Thursday morning in Tokyo, I called the prestigious orthopedic clinic at Keio University Hospital to schedule a consultation about my aching shoulder. "Why don't you just drop by?" the receptionist said. That same afternoon, I was in the surgeon's office. Dr. Nakamichi recommended an operation. "When could we do it?" I asked. The doctor checked his computer and said, "Tomorrow would be pretty difficult. Perhaps some day next week?"

Bureaucracy: "U.S. health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs in the world; they spend roughly 20 cents of every dollar for nonmedical costs, such as paperwork, reviewing claims and marketing. France's health insurance industry, in contrast, covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on administration. Canada's universal insurance system, run by government bureaucrats, spends 6 percent on administration. In Taiwan, a leaner version of the Canadian model has administrative costs of 1.5 percent; one year, this figure ballooned to 2 percent, and the opposition parties savaged the government for wasting money. "

Innovation: "Overseas, strict cost controls actually drive innovation. In the United States, an MRI scan of the neck region costs about $1,500. In Japan, the identical scan costs $98. Under the pressure of cost controls, Japanese researchers found ways to perform the same diagnostic technique for one-fifteenth the American price. (And Japanese labs still make a profit.) "

August 23, 2009 at 9:54 PM
Ellipses said...

I posted that via AddThis Firefox Extension... I wasn't sure how it would come across... Looks like just title and link :-)

August 24, 2009 at 6:25 AM
Wesley said...

Cyprickless and Elliptibunghole... you quote lies and then start having orgasms over them. Reid is a democrat political hack. Where did he get these “myths”? I am not aware that anyone said “its all socialized medicine out there.” That’s a no brainer yet he sets it up as a myth that is easily knocked down and scoring him a “knocked down myth.” Then he slips underneath that a bunch of bullshit that nobody gives a rats ass about in the first place. The point he has obscured is that Americans don’t want BO’s socialized medicine. It’s not about what others have, it’s about what they are about to cram down our throats here. This is a fucking pathetic debate technique.

He makes an assertion that he does not prove when he says that rationing does not take place in the form of long lines or limited choices. In fact there is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there to the contrary. Americans don’t want to live under socialism like Germans do and at the end of this supposed myth he concedes the lines do suck in Canada. Not much of a myth debunker.

Many of the countries like Japan have found out that the system is going bankrupt and they are having to wind back. Unlimited access leads to unlimited needs. All of these programs work well at first but all of them start crashing after ten years.

U.S. companies do need to clean up their administrative act but you can do that without turning to socialized medicine and you can get rid of a lot of that bureaucracy by eliminating the need to fireproof doctor asses from exorbitant lawsuits; i.e. tort reform. If you placed cost controls on technological innovation you would find that it would be stifled. Those French hips are sold all around the world and there are no controls on those prices.

When the system starts to go bankrupt through unlimited demand, rationing will begin and the first ones to get hit will be the old and infirmed. Blogitards will be first in line.

August 24, 2009 at 6:33 PM
Ondinita said...

Wesley...The problem is that Americans are saying they don't want BO's plan without knowing what it is...They are only hearing the crazy rhetoric & hyperbole from the right and getting all riled up. I don't know where you live but where I live, I have heard all those myths that Reid talked about and more almost on a daily basis...

Don't Americans realize that services are already being arbitrarily rationed by insurance companies here in the USA? We pay more than anyone for healthcare, yet we are getting mediocre care and our coverage can be dropped at anytime if you're getting too sick for the insurance companies and then no else will insure you bc now you have a pre-existing condition...

We also need to start using our resources wisely and that would take pressure off the system. Many people go see a doctor when they have the flu, pink eye, strep throat, a UTI, etc...when they could see a nurse practitioner...

The argument that unlimited access leads to unlimited needs doesn't make any sense. No one likes to go to the doctor, especially in a country like ours that time off from work is very limited. My husband is Norwegian. They have socialized healthcare and people still only go to the doctor for check ups or when they're sick. Same goes for my family in Spain. Only hypochondriacs would go to the doctor constantly just bc they can...

They just did a poll in Norway last week and more than 70% of Norwegians don't want a PRIVATE option...My family and everyone I know in Spain love their system too...

August 25, 2009 at 12:20 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)