Remember, the Left Lingula is always closest to the heart & everyone deserves to have that heart full of love...
My Newest: Nightshade Part 1
And My Fav: Turning Stephanie Insatiable: A tale of a wife's discovery...
Remember, the Left Lingula is always closest to the heart & everyone deserves to have that heart full of love...
My Newest: Nightshade Part 1
And My Fav: Turning Stephanie Insatiable: A tale of a wife's discovery...
Quote by Buz
I see it first hand, as the other way around. Islands of mediocrity located in the poorest areas, which are far less than than most anywhere else in the world. Healthcare here is generally too expensive, but it is not often mediocre, and predominently excellent.
Yes, Americans pay more than anyone else, but they do pay it, and still have one of the best average standard of livings on the planet.
All that aside, we shouldn't have to pay what we do. The system needs to be changed. The ultimate reason it is more expensive is that there are too many hands taking a piece of the money pie.
Quote by icurOK2
Pres. Trump is slowly privatizing the VA and vets are being given vouchers for private care.
Quote by PhilU
I haven't spent enough time in the US to know exactly how large the islands are. But I have seen a number of reports suggesting that the US performs poorly on a large number of measures of health outcomes. Some of that is probably due to lifestyle factors such as consuming enormous amounts of high fructose corn syrup, but this report puts the US last of 11 countries in 'healthcare outcomes' and 'mortality amenable to healthcare' (ie people dying from things that could have been prevented if they'd received adequate healthcare). And, of course, the US is miles above all the rest in terms of percentage of GDP spent on healthcare...
But, ultimately, I agree with you - the system needs to be changed. And you might be right on the ultimate reason... although a related issue is that the most important things to do well (preventative and first-line healthcare) don't earn enough money. Much more financially rewarding to treat late-stage cancer in a big hospital than to prevent it occurring or catch it early...
One reason not spoken of frequently is that the USA effectively subsidizes single-payer systems. R&D in the field of medicine is incredibly expensive, time consuming and prone to failure, plus it requires some really intelligent people to do the R&D, people who are worth the fortune they're being paid.
To give a concrete example, let's say someone needs a pacemaker, new ones are being developed and improved constantly. The cost most single payer systems pay for that is lower than the R&D cost of the pacemaker. Americans pay a higher price so that the companies making/improving the pacemaker can continue to improve them.
This is one reason, it's not the only reason, nor is it a major reason, but R&D costs are a relevant factor.
My first Recommended Read: I Planned To Walk In On Them, But Not For Them To Keep Going. HELP!
The R&D cost should be spread out globally by all users not just inflicted on USA users. Done this way the amortization of the product development cost would be faster. The trouble is politicians are continuously corrupted by Big Pharmaceutical companies and healthcare networks making it impossible to reduce healthcare costs.