U.S. Healthcare

Dallas wrote:

stockingfull wrote:Nevermind, I have yet to see any compilation which purports to be an objective analysis and rates us the "best healthcare in the world."

Has anybody got any such comparison?

I have ... the US is about 14 from the bottom ... not good! I'll see if I can find it once again.

Seems to be the consensus, except among "patriots."

stockingfull wrote:Where'd my post go?

I have no idea, is one missing? other thread? Sure it's not in the other thread this was slpit from? Does it belong here? I haven't deleted anything.... One thing i do have is strict policy about deleting and editing posts. Any edits no matter how insignificant even if its to fix a URL are to be either marked as such in the post or the member is to informed about it. The only thing that will get deleted without such notification is double posts, just to add I'm installing modification for "soft delete/edit" so nothing is deleted/edited but instead is removed from public view.

Nevermind, I have yet to see any compilation which purports to be an objective analysis and rates us the "best healthcare in the world."

Has anybody got any such comparison?

Whether its number 1 or number or number 97878574 the WHO report is flawed if you want to consider the overall quality of health care you'll get in the U.S. comapred to other countries. Again my interpretation to that report based on the WHO explanation is basically Countries spending large amounts of money are being penalized for providing advanced medical care. Is research and development included in that? I wonder if that is case, I don't see any mention of it...

OK, but my point still is that, if you don't like the WHO conclusions and/or methodology, what study do you think has more accurately evaluated the world healthcare rankings?

So far, the WHO ranking is the only horse on the track.

Just to add I don't think you can produce a accurate representation because you're comparing apples to oranges. If you had two countries with very similar cultures and habits spending the same amount of money on the same things then you could make a fair comparison but that is impossible as no two countries will be the same.

From: http://www.everybodyinnobodyout.org/FAQ/fqIntl.htm

CHILD AND INFANT MORTALITY
"In 2003, 40 countries had infant and child mortality rates lower than or equal to those in the United States." Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, April 13, 2005

There are a bunch more charts on this site, regarding health.


From: http://opencrs.com/rpts/RL34175_20070917.pdf

Table 5. Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates, 2004
Life expectancy
at birth
Mortality rate
(deaths per 1,000 people)
Potential years of life
lost from natural
causes, per 1,000 people
Japan 82.1 4.0 19.9
Switzerland 81.2 4.8 23.7
Iceland 81.0 4.8 16.8
Sweden 80.6 5.3 20.7
Australia 80.6 4.9 23.6
Spain 80.5 5.3 27.0
France 80.3 5.1 29.2
Norway 79.9 5.3 23.2
Canada 79.9 5.2 25.5
Italy 79.7 5.1 24.7
Austria 79.3 5.4 26.3
New Zealand 79.2 5.6 29.2
Netherlands 79.2 5.7 25.8
Greece 79.0 6.0 24.2
Finland 78.8 5.3 25.2
Belgium 78.8 N/A N/A
Germany 78.6 5.6 27.1
United Kingdom 78.5 6.2 30.3
Ireland 78.3 6.5 29.5
Luxembourg 78.0 5.3 25.0
Denmark 77.6 6.7 30.7
United States 77.5 6.1 35.9
Portugal 77.4 6.4 33.8
Korea 77.4 6.4 30.7
Czech Republic 75.8 7.5 32.1
Mexico 75.2 N/A N/A
Poland 75.0 7.8 43.1
Slovak Republic 74.1 8.6 45.3
Hungary 72.8 9.1 55.2
Turkey 71.2 N/A N/A
AVERAGE 78.3 5.9 29.0

Well it is a nice list. It reminds me a little bit like the top 100 lists that all come around every December.
Here is what some Brits have to say about it http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1172006
When you follow the links on the WHO's own web site and read about the report you soon see that the entire list is what we "rednecks" call bullshit. All subjective to what someone else's idea of what constitutes quality health care.

So the question's still on the table:

Can anybody produce a list which purports to reflect an objective study of any sort and rates our healthcare system highly?

Here's a debunking of the WHO bogus rankings.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9236

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... 2rank.html


CIA

Maybe those of you who are that dissatisfied with the health care system or the way the government operates and feel that another country has a better system of government or better health care should consider relocation to such a place.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic or provoke anyone with my remarks.

I will guarantee that after 1 year all of you will be finding fault with that system as well.

One of the tenents of Communism is that the state controls every aspect of the people's lives, including their health care. It's obvious how well that has worked, despite what Michael Moore has to say.

As for me I chose to stay right here and remain an American.

stockingfull wrote:So the question's still on the table:

Can anybody produce a list which purports to reflect an objective study of any sort and rates our healthcare system highly?

No such list exists. Here is another interesting article on the WHO list http://earthchangesmedia.com/biology/June2000/0621controversial.htm if you read it it sheds some interesting light on the WHO report.

So we're 45th in life expectancy by CIA data, behind Japan, France, Canada and the UK.

Next -- I can't wait -- will the CIA be an unreliable, Micheal Moore-influenced source?

And, when all else fails, just wave the flag and all will be well.

gaw wrote:

stockingfull wrote:So the question's still on the table:

Can anybody produce a list which purports to reflect an objective study of any sort and rates our healthcare system highly?

No such list exists. Here is another interesting article on the WHO list http://earthchangesmedia.com/biology/June2000/0621controversial.htm if you read it it sheds some interesting light on the WHO report.

So it's basically a report about how efficiently a country uses it's health care resources, sort of a glorified price comparison, not really rating the quality of the healthcare.

stockingfull wrote:So we're 45th in life expectancy by CIA data, behind Japan, France, Canada and the UK.

Next -- I can't wait -- will the CIA be an unreliable, Micheal Moore-influenced source?

And, when all else fails, just wave the flag and all will be well.

You're missing the point. There's lots of options for one who isn't happy with things in the US

Wood'nCoal wrote:
So it's basically a report about how efficiently a country uses it's health care resources, sort of a glorified price comparison, not really rating the quality of the healthcare.

Exactly like a Consumer Reports best buy recommendation.