1.8 trillion..
Couple points..
1) A shockingly high % of hospital admissions are for heath/lifestye choices the patient made years before..obesity is a rampant contributer..Alcohol, Cigarettes, Drugs, unsafe sex practices. My "rough" guess based on >10 years of hospital ward experience is about 2/3 - 3/4 of ALL admissions have these as strong contributing factors or cause. These are all more common in US than other countries ranked "healthier" than us.

2) A few patients cause BIG BUX. We do heart surgery on 75 year olds, dialysis on 80 year olds...many other countries have age cuts-offs including the UK (as low as 60!). Renal failure at 61..= adious muchacho! Marrow & organ transplants, devise implants...big ticket items we do more than ANYONE. Personally, I think we go to far sometimes but expectations are enourmous in the US. Somebody abuses there body for years but if they have a bad hospital outcome, the family wants to know why the HOSPITAL SCREWED UP. Unfortunately, this means less money to pay for prevention..which is UNDERSTRESSED in the US.

3) Litigation...extending our last topic, we have more malpractice litigation in this county thant THE WORLD COMBINED. Combined with unrealistic demands and poor self care, malpractice costs are huge. And it does not stop at insurance costs and actually driving all doctors in some specialties in certain areas. It factors incalculably into DEFENSIVE medicine. Young Docs (and many veterens) today are less comforatble with a good history and physical ruling out some condition and want to do a test...CT, MRI, etc. Some of the labwork today is amazing as well...we have tests for many things that are RARE but serious, and tests get employed ALOT. Many other countries just do not routinely have thses specialized tests, and again...I think they are OVERUSED here.

4) Patient DEMAND...look no further than your TV. Is there an hour that goes by when a drug for erectile dysfunction is not on (Viagra, Levitra, etc.). "Ask your Doctor or Pharmacist"....and you can bet they do! And many docs will give patients what they want to keep them comming. This BS does not occur in many of these countries. And if they DID ask...it would not be on the RESTRICTED formulary.


I could go on...but we have
1) Unheathy folks
2) Unsafe lifestyles
3) Overemphasis on expensive care for older, end stage persons
4) Underemphasis on prevention
5) High consumer demand & expectations
6) MDs trained more in procedures than "art" of diagnosis (a big pet peave of mine)
7) Excess litigation costs
8) MD maldistribution (too many here, not enough here)
9) The US pharma industry bears an inordinate % of drug R&D costs..

You take THIS current problem list NOW to a "global heathcare" model with same level of benifits...we will bankrupt it so fast your head will spin. Kerry's plan is pure fantasy.

Now...it CAN be done if we all want..Nobody wants to lose weight. Nobody wants to be told "if I drink or smoke crack, I lose heathcare". Nobody wants their 80 year old dad to be denied dialysis. Nobody wants to have a resticted number of drugs available..and no "fancy extras".. Nobody will be happy when they are told "NO MRI of that knee, head"..."let's just watch it". Nobody wants to give up the right to sue docs into the ground if something goes wrong. I have cancer and want a marrow transplant NOW, not a waiting list...I want to pick my MD. Oh..and I want our pharm industry to start cranking out the miracle drugs...NAH!

If we all agree to this, we can cover everybody, and in SOME respects do a better job However, I do not believe that we as a people are ready for this. It will need to be implimented gradually. Tort reform is a good start and educating lifestyle changes and working on prevention..all of which are current initiatives. I think we can finf a middle ground on drug pricing without going to Canada to get drugs we developed HERE. I do not want French or Canadian heathcare, I want to borrow what is best in their systems and combine with the best of ours..for despite your WHO stats..it is the US to which the wealthly of nearly ALL countries come for care.




1999 Amazon Green SVT Contour (#554/2760) "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." -Soren Kierkegaard (as posted by Jato)