UK has the best health service, US worst

[Spider]

[exploited]

[Spider]

I grew up completely uninsured, and always received care whenever I needed it anyways, and it was always pretty good as I recollect. So dunno. My first healthcare plan was employer provided when I was 18. The hospital and doctor provides the same care to everyone in any sort of emergency situation by law. Safe to say that the quality is the same regardless, since the care comes regardless. The rub is where the coverage doesn't exist. That's a matter of not getting treated for something non-emergency in the first place...and so the quality of it is kinda moot, since the treatment didn't happen.

The landslide majority are covered very comprehensively, if you look at the stats. The trouble is when its something like cancer that can run into the 6 and 7 figure range...you just run out of coverage. Its kinda like crashing into a Ferrari when you've only got 20k in liability coverage.

[exploited]

Well, emergency care is one thing, but real health care requires one on one time with a doctor. I was under the impression that the cheapest plans did not necessarily cover doctors visits. Further, a lot of plans have high deductibles... So again you are seeing more money being paid in order to access care.

The point is that access to care is determined by money, which means that the quality of care varies between individuals - the assumption being that more regular, more consistent care is necessarily better than emergency room visits. It just stands to reason that in a for-profit system, those with more money are going to get better care.

That's what makes it hard to compare the US system with anything else IMO. I still think that saying 80% of America received the best healthcare is impossible. The results don't reflect that, and in any case, healthcare is more than getting treated when when you get hurt or sick.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/26/news/ec ... care-cost/

Millions can't afford to go to the doctor
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A growing number of Americans are skipping needed medical care because they can't afford it.

Some 80 million people, around 43% of America's working-age adults, didn't go to the doctor or access other medical services last year because of the cost, according to the Commonwealth Fund's Biennial Health Insurance Survey, released Friday. That's up from 75 million people two years ago and 63 million in 2003.

Not surprisingly, those who were uninsured or had inadequate health insurance were most likely to have trouble affording care. But 28% of working-age adults with good insurance also had to forgo treatment because of the price.
Nearly three in 10 adults said they did not visit a doctor or clinic when they had a medical problem, while more than a quarter did not fill a prescription or skipped recommended tests, treatment or follow-up visits. One in five said they did not get needed specialist care.

And 28% of those with a chronic condition like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and asthma who needed medication for it reported they did not fill prescriptions or skipped doses because they couldn't afford to pay for the drugs.

Even those with coverage find themselves shelling out more for deductibles and co-payments. The share of Americans with deductibles greater than $1,000 more than tripled between 2003 and 2012, reaching 25%.

"Costs of health care have gone up faster than wages," said David Blumenthal, president of The Commonwealth Fund.

The survey also found that 84 million people, nearly half of all working-age adults, went without health insurance for a time last year or had such high out-of-pocket expenses relative to their income that they were considered under-insured. That's up from 81 million in 2010 and 61 million in 2003.

One bright spot in the report is that fewer young adults, those ages 19 to 25, were uninsured. The share fell to 41% in 2012, down from 48% two years earlier. That's due in large part to the Affordable Care Act, which allows young adults to stay on their parents insurance until age 26.

All of those numbers should improve going forward as more health reform provisions take effect in 2014 -- primarily the state-based insurance exchanges, which are intended to offer affordable plans to those without work-based coverage.

The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, will provide more coverage and cost protections, said Sara Collins, the study's lead author. Insurance plans offered through the state exchanges have to cover a suite of "essential" benefits, including maternity care and mental health services. They also limit the insured's out-of-pocket payments to no more than 40% of expenses.

[Spider]

Don't have to try to convince me; I agree that the system sucks. But...politics/ideology seems to consistently overrule practicality. I don't see this changing anytime soon. The dysfunction is so massive and entrenched...hell with it honestly. Futile.

If it makes others feel good to rub our noses in it in the meantime, fine. That's on them. *shrug*

[John Galt]

if you got free oil changes with your car insurance would you do it more often than needed? the problem is insurance itself is too generous not that it doesn't cover enough. it shouldn't be for things like doc visits. doc visits should cost like 100 bucks. if it's important, then go. if it's not, well, it's a f**k cold so deal like everyone else. otherwise when you pay for all that shit with insurance then costs of everything goes up

[Professor]

Yeah, the US can certainly do better than what we're doing right now. But, don't say that you want to change Obamacare, lest you be labeled.

[Mr.Bill]

The Republicans in the House don't want to change or fix ACA, they have made it very clear they want it gone..

ACA needs changes, as does Medicare and Medicaid, hell our whole HC system needs fixes and changes. But as was pointed out because of the lobbying, the idealogical, the politics, etc. nothing will get fixed.

I see by that chart 24% of the people in Texas have no HI.. Which means they are getting free HC.. 1/4 of the people there get free HC, so the 3/4 with HI and the taxpayers are paying for the 1/4... Yet the anti-UHC people think that having UHC is socialist but what we have now isn't..

Oh well..

[The Dharma Bum]

f**k rich people, lets take their money and use it all on liposuction and unnecessary pain medication for unemployed illegal immigrants

[Professor]