My Facebook Health Care Post
I posted this health care rant (in three parts) on facebook as a response to a short post I made which is first:
"I have looked over the bill and it doesn’t go far enough. We need a single payer plan, period. Darrell Issa, republican, from California got on Bill Maher and said America can’t compete with Canada because they spend a lot less of GDP than us on health care and the bashed any type of government plan. It is funny that the very reason Canada spends less than the US is because they have a single payer system. Right now we are headed for no single, payer, no public option and if the insurances companies get their way your part of the insurance bill will go from around 20% to 35%. Oh, that woman like so many like her (tea baggers, birthers) don’t have as much a problem with the message (health care), but the messenger (Obama)."
I was in nutshell told the Canadian system is bad and that I didn't do enough research, so this was what I wrote. I didn't want it to go to waste, so I am going to publish it here.
"First, I thought this was a discussion of medical health care. Anyway, let’s talk about a number of different health care measuring sticks. The last time the list of health care in countries was done by the WHO (I know I didn’t use the Lewin Group numbers but being a part of UnitedHealth Group, I just don’t trust their numbers) ranked Great Britain (which has full government run health care) 18, Canada where the government pays the bill (but doctors and hospitals are still private) was 30th and the “greatest health care in the world” came in 37th. Next up is life expectancy, where once again, Canada came in 12th (72.0 years), Great Britain 14th (71.7 years), and the good old USA 24th (70.4 years). Then there are infant mortality rates, Great Britain 22nd, Canada 23rd oh and the USA was 33rd, I see a pattern here (on another note we also finished behind Cuba 28th). Oh I forgot we did finish ahead of Canada and Great Britain on something, expenditure. We were second in that category while Canada was 18th and Great Britain was 41st. We spend 15.3% of GDP while Canada spends 10.0% and Great Britain 8.4%.
As for wait times health Canada reported in 2008 that the median wait time for an MRI was 2 weeks not six. Yes, some waits can be longer in Canada, because service is prioritized by patient according to relative urgency, with urgent patients receiving immediate access while other might have to wait. From my experience (in the US) I can’t get in to see a doctor that day (usually two or more and sometimes it isn’t a doctor) and as for an MRI, I had to have in 2001 and took almost a month to have it done.
My wife and I spend close to $200 a month for health insurance and our deductible is over $2000. Hey, I will take a tax increase of $500, because I will save money.
Remember, I didn’t get into the practice of insurance companies denying procedures (even if they are ordered by a doctor) or preexisting conditions. In a nut shell no system is perfect but Canadians spend 55% less than Americans, are fully covered and live longer.
Before I forget, on the subject of drugs, in the USA we spend $728 per ca pita compared to $509 in Canada. On patented drug prices, we in the USA spend on average between 35% and 45% more than Canadians. So I hope that was enough RESEARCH."
Anyway, these are just a few of the many reasons we need a national health care overhaul.
This is an amendment to the original blog I posted on facebook. I just learned an interesting set of facts about health care insurance companies denying health care. In California from 2002-to-2009 22% of all insurance claims were denied. The largest insurance company PacifiCare, a United Health Care subsidiary, denied 39.6%, almost 40% that is outrageous. For those regular people who defend this system for what every reason, just remember insurance companies more money the less they pay out in claims. You love your private insurance, wake up or you might be part of that 40%
"I have looked over the bill and it doesn’t go far enough. We need a single payer plan, period. Darrell Issa, republican, from California got on Bill Maher and said America can’t compete with Canada because they spend a lot less of GDP than us on health care and the bashed any type of government plan. It is funny that the very reason Canada spends less than the US is because they have a single payer system. Right now we are headed for no single, payer, no public option and if the insurances companies get their way your part of the insurance bill will go from around 20% to 35%. Oh, that woman like so many like her (tea baggers, birthers) don’t have as much a problem with the message (health care), but the messenger (Obama)."
I was in nutshell told the Canadian system is bad and that I didn't do enough research, so this was what I wrote. I didn't want it to go to waste, so I am going to publish it here.
"First, I thought this was a discussion of medical health care. Anyway, let’s talk about a number of different health care measuring sticks. The last time the list of health care in countries was done by the WHO (I know I didn’t use the Lewin Group numbers but being a part of UnitedHealth Group, I just don’t trust their numbers) ranked Great Britain (which has full government run health care) 18, Canada where the government pays the bill (but doctors and hospitals are still private) was 30th and the “greatest health care in the world” came in 37th. Next up is life expectancy, where once again, Canada came in 12th (72.0 years), Great Britain 14th (71.7 years), and the good old USA 24th (70.4 years). Then there are infant mortality rates, Great Britain 22nd, Canada 23rd oh and the USA was 33rd, I see a pattern here (on another note we also finished behind Cuba 28th). Oh I forgot we did finish ahead of Canada and Great Britain on something, expenditure. We were second in that category while Canada was 18th and Great Britain was 41st. We spend 15.3% of GDP while Canada spends 10.0% and Great Britain 8.4%.
As for wait times health Canada reported in 2008 that the median wait time for an MRI was 2 weeks not six. Yes, some waits can be longer in Canada, because service is prioritized by patient according to relative urgency, with urgent patients receiving immediate access while other might have to wait. From my experience (in the US) I can’t get in to see a doctor that day (usually two or more and sometimes it isn’t a doctor) and as for an MRI, I had to have in 2001 and took almost a month to have it done.
My wife and I spend close to $200 a month for health insurance and our deductible is over $2000. Hey, I will take a tax increase of $500, because I will save money.
Remember, I didn’t get into the practice of insurance companies denying procedures (even if they are ordered by a doctor) or preexisting conditions. In a nut shell no system is perfect but Canadians spend 55% less than Americans, are fully covered and live longer.
Before I forget, on the subject of drugs, in the USA we spend $728 per ca pita compared to $509 in Canada. On patented drug prices, we in the USA spend on average between 35% and 45% more than Canadians. So I hope that was enough RESEARCH."
Anyway, these are just a few of the many reasons we need a national health care overhaul.
This is an amendment to the original blog I posted on facebook. I just learned an interesting set of facts about health care insurance companies denying health care. In California from 2002-to-2009 22% of all insurance claims were denied. The largest insurance company PacifiCare, a United Health Care subsidiary, denied 39.6%, almost 40% that is outrageous. For those regular people who defend this system for what every reason, just remember insurance companies more money the less they pay out in claims. You love your private insurance, wake up or you might be part of that 40%
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