Surprising Facts about American Health Care

[roster]

Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.


Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:

•Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
•Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
•More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
•Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).

Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report "excellent" health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as "fair or poor."


Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long - sometimes more than a year - to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.

People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either "fundamental change" or "complete rebuilding."

Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the "health care system," more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).

Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.

Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.

Conclusion. Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.







Full article: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba649

Will our new healthcare legislation whittle away our comparative advantage?

[Nord]

Roster... You really need a different hobby...

This biased report is by a group that was formed to change Policy and Manage minds:
Here's what they say about who they are...

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
public policy research organization, established in 1983. The NCPA's goal
is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and
control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive,
entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes,
Social Security, welfare, criminal justice, education and environmental
regulation.

I'd say that you have read too many of their articles from this source...
I wonder where their funding comes from... ??

Nord

[roster]

Roster... You really need a different hobby...

This biased report is by a group that was formed to change Policy and Manage minds:
Here's what they say about who they are...

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
public policy research organization, established in 1983. The NCPA's goal
is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and
control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive,
entrepreneurial private sector. Topics include reforms in health care, taxes,
Social Security, welfare, criminal justice, education and environmental
regulation.

I'd say that you have read too many of their articles from this source...
I wonder where their funding comes from... ??

Nord

OK. Refute some of the facts in their report.

[roster]

Go read some history books. Canada once was contributing medical innovations. That all started to dry up decades ago after a socialist medical system was installed.

There are medium sized companies in the U.S. that produce more medical innovation every year than the entire country of Canada produces.

My wishes are that you can change your system and that we can stop our government from destroying the U.S. innovation.

[Nord]

No...

That's your game...
You just pick the reports, studies, whatever that say what you want.

I'm sure you are old enough to remember when Medicine Potions were sold by a guy in a wagon pulled by horses...
based on "factual" information.

Facts are thrown around so much that no one has the time and energy (including you) to make sure.
Have you read any advertising lately... all based on facts.

Thanks but no thanks.... I'll leave that to DreamStalker.

Nord

[roster]

Sure I read advertising and do research before I make decisions. It's a better life when you make your own decisions in the marketplace and don't cry for a nanny government to do things for you.

[Uncle_Bob]

Sure I read advertising and do research before I make decisions. It's a better life when you make your own decisions in the marketplace and don't cry for a nanny government to do things for you.

Are you sure you are reading? your table shows the United Kingdom is in the #1 slot and they have socialized health care.

I've lived in Europe and find its better to judge lifestyle when you live it rather than research it or read about it.

When the marketplace refuses to even sell you insurance because of issues like pre existing conditions your last resort IS your vote.

[Nord]

Go read some history books. Canada once was contributing medical innovations. That all started to dry up decades ago after a socialist medical system was installed.

There are medium sized companies in the U.S. that produce more medical innovation every year than the entire country of Canada produces.

My wishes are that you can change your system and that we can stop our government from destroying the U.S. innovation.

Actually this is something I would like to comment on... I'm sure you would like to change the Canadian HealthCare system...

Our Medical System which is many Doctors including specialists,technicians and Nurses...
have been recruited away to the sounds of increased income in the US... pay as you go Medical system.
Our schools, which are cheaper, and hospitals have trained many medical personnel only to have them leave for more money... in your free market.
(now... there's a misnomer)

As regards to your medical innovation... nowadays...
money for "innovation" is spent by Billion dollar medical companies who locate themselves in countries that have lower taxes.
Any "innovations" that are created anywhere including the US... are available to anybody including Canadians that are willing to pay.

The difference is that in Canada... the government subsidizes its' citizens health by making it available to people that need it... not just those who can afford it.
Surprising that the US was created with the morals of the French Revolution and removing the Class system within its' citizens and yet...
The Healthcare system you defend is all about people belonging to classes of affordability.

I guess its not so strange if you belong to the upper class to make medical help immediate...
and have insurance that is welcomed just like your MasterCard.

And here I said I didn't want to play... I keep hoping that some enlightenment and goodwill will penetrate.
Maybe its too late for you... a man of the Twentieth Century.

Nord

[newhosehead]

I can hardly believe I am going to respond to this post. I do know I did not sleep well last night (very loud thunderstorms) so perhaps it is a bit easier to get under my skin than usual. Roster/Rooster, whatever, I cannot dispute any of the statistics you presented at this moment. However, I do find the following link interesting. It seems that the life expectancy of our Canadian neighbors beats the crap out of ours.

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

Do I know why? No. Am I waiting with breathless anticipation for you to rebut the findings in that link? No.

Maybe it has something to do with what my Dad always said: Stay the hell away from doctors as much as possible and you'll be better off. My Dad, by the way, lived to be 86.

Why do I already feel I am going to regret making this post???
Jeanette

[billbolton]

OK. Refute some of the facts in their report.

Ranked List (highest is 1) of countries by life expectancy from the World Health Organisation (2005-2010)

1 Japan

5 Australia

11 Canada

13 New Zealand

22 United Kingdom

23 Germany

38 United States

[So Well]

Your life expectancy argument is about life expectancy and measures something other than quality of medical care. So saying that the U.S. finished behind those other countries in medical care is misleading.

First let's acknowledge that the U.S. medical system has serious problems. But the problems stem from departures from free-market principles. The system is riddled with tax manipulation, costly insurance mandates and bureaucratic interference. Most important, six out of seven health-care dollars are spent by third parties, which means that most consumers exercise no cost-consciousness.No one spends other people's money as carefully as he spends his own.

Even with all that, it strains credulity to hear that the U.S. ranks far from the top. Sick people come to the United States for treatment. How often do you hear of someone leaving this country to get medical care?

The WHO judged a country's quality of health on life expectancy. But that's a lousy measure of a health-care system. Many things that cause premature death have nothing do with medical care. We have far more fatal transportation accidents than other countries. That's not a health-care problem.

Similarly, our homicide rate is 10 times higher than in the U.K., eight times higher than in France, and five times greater than in Canada.

When you adjust for these "fatal injury" rates, U.S. life expectancy is actually higher than in nearly every other industrialized nation.

Diet and lack of exercise also bring down average life expectancy and we have big problems with that in the U.S.

Life expectancy is not a measure of the quality of healthcare.

I am repeating, the system is riddled with tax manipulation, costly insurance mandates and bureaucratic interference from both federal and state governments. The free market has not been allowed to do its work.

[newhosehead]

So Well, you really do write so well. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Very thoughtful post from you, as always.

Jeanette

[Jay K]

I don't understand why so much effort is being expended by right-wing extremists here in the United States "analyzing" the Canadian health care system. It doesn't resemble what the United States had before the Health Care reform bill; it doesn't resemble what the United States now has and in the near future will have after passage of the Health Care Reform bill; and, it doesn't resemble anything the United States ever will have.

In other words, railing against the Canadian health care system is pointless nonsense.

[DreamStalker]

Its the tea man ...

Those right-wing extremist jihadist be tripp'in on all that tea ... full of some really bad acid man.

[Really]

The difference is that in Canada... the government subsidizes its' citizens health by making it available to people that need it... not just those who can afford it.

You say that like its a bad thing? Really??

Surprising that the US was created with the morals of the French Revolution and removing the Class system within its' citizens and yet...
The Healthcare system you defend is all about people belonging to classes of affordability.

Do they make it available to illegal immigrants like the US does? Not uncommon for illegals to come to the US for the FREE healthcare you mentioned above. Really!!

Why do the Canadians always want to bash our healthcare but then get on the bus to come over the border for treatment? Really??