Bashing the U.S. Health Care System
Our friends at the Commonwealth Fund just released their 13th Annual Bash the U.S. Health Care System survey, published in Health Affairs. I’ll save you the effort of having to read it: U.S. patients have to deal with paperwork that’s generally inconvenient and out-of-pocket costs that inhibit access to care.
Hmmm. I guess they don’t read the British newspapers. What about the thousands of cancer patients who don’t get the latest drugs (available in the U.S. and continental Europe) if they cannot afford to pay out of their own pockets? What about WHO’s estimate that 25,000 British cancer patients die every year because of lack of ability to pay for drugs the NHS does not supply?
What about all the Canadian patients (in pain and perhaps at risk of death) who cannot afford to purchase prompt care available in the United States? I guess the Commonwealth Fund folks don’t read Canadian newspapers either.
Even so, what’s reported is not all that rosy in the other 10 countries surveyed. Of American adults needing care, 57% were able to see a doctor or nurse either the same day or next day. Forty-five percent of Canadians and Norwegians were able to get a same (or next) day appointments, but the other European countries were slightly better or about the same as the U.S. Nearly two-thirds of Americans complained about difficulty accessing care afterhours — as did 60% of the countries.
Where the U.S. health care system really shines is access to specialist care. Eighty percent of Americans waited less than a month to see a specialist, which puts us in the top fifth of countries surveyed. More than two-thirds of Americans wait of less than one month for surgery. Of the 11 countries surveyed, only Germans fared better in this regard. More than one-in-five Canadians, Norwegians, Swedes and residents of the UK reported waiting four months or more.
The Commonwealth Fund’s take on the data: “The U.S. is the only country in the study where having health insurance doesn’t guarantee you access to health care or financial protection when you’re sick.
Will someone offer the Commonwealth Fund a free subscription to the Daily Telegraph? It should be tax deductible.
Nice response, Devon. These guys are shameless.
I think the CWF decides what answers it wants in advance and then constructs its studies to give those very answers.
How much does the Daily Telegraph cost? I think they need two subscriptions – one for Karen Davis and one for the rest of the staff to share.
Bruce, I think Karen Davis needs two copies of the Telegraph. One for office and one for home.
The left-of-center advocacies, who like European-style socialism, find novel ways of cutting down the U.S. Health Care System. What they fail to appreciate is the problems with the U.S. Health Care System all stem from the quasi-socialistic mechanisms already in place. Patients never know the cost of care, nor do they know the cost of the insurance coverage that finances much of the care they receive.
Makes me wonder how the rst of the industrialized World retains higher health statistiucs than we do!