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Americans Are Seriously Sick
jd writes "A study by US and British researchers on frequency of illnesses shows that even when you compare like groups in the US and the UK, people in the US are considerably sicker than their counterparts in the UK. This is after factors such as age, race, income, education and gender were taken into consideration. The most startling conclusion was that although the richest Americans were better off than the poorest Americans, they did no better (health-wise) than the poorest of the English. Previous studies of the entire population had shown similar results, with America placing around 25th amongst industrialized countries on chronic disease prevention, but it had been assumed that minorities and economics were skewing the results. This study suggests that maybe that isn't the case."
Michael Moore is going to expose the rotten health care system in the USA in his new movie called Sicko:h p?id=193
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.p
The health insurance industry is a parasite the purpose of which is to interfere with your patient-doctor relationship and to deny your treatment.
The official nationality of people from the UK is British, not English. By referring to Brits as "English", you're pissing off a sizable number of people who are proud to be Scottish, Irish, Welsh, etc. Us English did some pretty nasty things to them in the past, so calling them "English" isn't exactly going to ingratiate yourself with them.
By referring to people from the UK as British, you're still going to piss off some Irish, but at least you're correct in your terminology. Yes, British is the correct term to use for somebody from the UK, even if they aren't from Great Britain. References:
Having read the article, I have no clue exactly which region of the world it is talking about, because it seems to use different regions as synonyms. It could be the UK, which is a country and member nation of the UN. It could be Great Britain, which is a geographical region within the UK comprised mainly of England, Wales and Scotland. Or it could be England, which is a region, home nation and constituent country of the UK, but which doesn't have its own government.
If I had to guess, I'd say that they were talking about the UK, even though they don't use the word "UK" at all, instead opting for "British" and "England". I base this guess on years of experience with peopel from the USA getting it wrong and the sentence "Those dismal results are despite the fact that U.S. health care spending is double what England spends on each of its citizens." Hint: England spends nothing whatsoever on its citizens. The NHS in England is run by the UK government. It's the NHS in other parts of the UK that belong to their respective constituent countries - England actually has very little to call its own these days.
England, Great Britain and the UK are three completely different things. Mix them up, and you piss people off. It's a bit like mixing up California with the USA with North America. You'd think somebody was pretty ignorant to do that, right?
Because we decided as a nation that it should be a right that want to grant to our fellows - and I'm very proud of this fact.
Bank holidays are not what you think. They are legal holidays. While it is true that you may have to work at a bank holiday, the employer is legally required to offer you a day off in lieu, so the point about the higher amount of days off stands.
"To any truly impartial person, it would be obvious that I am right."
The fact that we democratically decided that it should be.
The fact that it's basic human decency to help those less fortunate than yourself, particularly those in potentially dire need.
The fact that when a single life is needlessly cut short, the whole society is affected in some way.
Failing all that, simple enlightened self interest. Even if you can afford to pay for your healthcare or insurance now, can you be sure of that in the future? Heaven help you if you fall on hard times, or require treatment that your insurance won't cover.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=vegan+diet+b12
The problem is Vitamin B12. It's not naturally occurring in plants, but exclusively synthesised by bacteria. The only natural bioavailable sources of B12 are meat products. That's why vegans are advised to eat foods enriched with B12 (and calcium). Chronic B12 deficiency leads to anaemia, nerve damage and eventually death.
Slamming back the odd Red Bull will take care of it though.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Truly privatized would be your work place paying you money to obtain your own health care. Whether you bank it and pay straight cash after that(frequently gets a 50% discount), or buy a health care insurance program, or some combination of the two is up to you.
Have you every tried paying cash in the US Health Care system? I had a dentist that I loved dearly, compared to some of the other dentists I've seen - this guy is the best in the field I've come across. My insurance used to pay him $650 for a root canal and crown. But he charged a cash customer $1500 for the same thing.
I have to pick up a couple medicines every month at the pharmacy. (Now I suppose Walmart & Costco are a few bucks cheaper, but not on my pharmacy plan) I pay a trivial deductable ($1 each on generics) for my medicines and a straight percentage for non-generics. They pay $65 for one of my scripts, but the cash price for it is $128 at Walgreens. They don't even hide that they are paying half what I would, I have hard caps on the policy and everything everyone is paid out is listed. Go try to find a pair of MRIs with & without contrast for $530 paying cash. I know why my GP isn't always happy to see me either, I know what he is paid for it.
Cash wont get you far in the American Health Care system, they rape cash customers blind. $50 for a hot towel, $75 for an ice pack... (*This is from my physical therapy bill before insurance, and these are the cash billing prices.)
I know there are some doctors you can negotiate with, and there is always the Doc-In-The-Box for routine things, but if you need anything more than the very routine, its a very expensive proposition. Some of the health care system is pure price gouging, but its targeted at the cash customer the worst.
I'm currently working as a contractor, and using COBRA for my old insurance policy. When its up, I'm going to buy this policy outright, its far from cheap, but I've done the math both ways. I can't win paying cash, and can't afford the risk of needing some specialized bit of care if I have any complications.
I'll tell you what I really think causes the difference between here and the UK. Although I haven't lived in the UK, I spent a year working in Germany. Its the food, its the stress, and its the climate of work. Half of the additives to the food you wont find in theirs - it makes a difference. The work environment was a lot better, shorter hours, less pressures for overtime (I was reminded of this several times when I suggested time tables that would be perfectly acceptable here - just work people 55 hours a week to do it.), very little stress coming out (there was virtually no crime where I was at). Even though I had the stress of dealing with a language I hadn't mastered, navigating a city I barely knew, and a bit of culture shock - I still came home with less need to unwind. Where I was at less traffic as well, of course it was expensive to drive. It was very typical on any job site I was at for them to offer us good coffee, and a few minutes to talk to everyone before starting. (That almost never happens here, just get led to the problem and dive in and avoid talking to anyone unless you have to, or they will think you are slacking off.)
Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.
is so overburdened and inefficient that it takes months, MONTHS to get to a dentist for a painful tooth problem.
BULLSHIT. Absolute bullshit. I had an impacted wisdom tooth, had an appointment to see an oral surgeon after the infection went away and had the tooth out the same day as the scheduled appointment, only 3 days after I finished my antibiotics. Check my journal, I have an entry there written the day I had my tooth out.
Trolling is a art,
Have you every tried paying cash in the US Health Care system? I had a dentist that I loved dearly, compared to some of the other dentists I've seen - this guy is the best in the field I've come across. My insurance used to pay him $650 for a root canal and crown. But he charged a cash customer $1500 for the same thing.
It's not the doctors fault, he's not out to rape cash customers, he's trying to make ends meet. The reason that uninsured medical costs are so high is partially the fault of private insurance companies. Your doc could charge $800 for a root and crown, cover his expenses (lets say $650), and have some money left over to take home ($150). If he got $800 bucks every time, it would work. Unfortunately, the private insurance companies use their muscle to reduce the amount that they will pay, so the doc is forced to accept this lower payment ($650). Well that covers his expenses, but it certainly won't leave him with a paycheck, so he has to charge the uninsured a bit more to make up for it.
However, MedicAid and MediCare are the real reason why healthcare is out of control in this country. Docs are required by law to accept both, and neither of them pay anywhere near enough to cover expenses. While the insurance companies will haggle down the price to $650 with your dentist, MedicAid and MediCare give him $200, take it or leave it. The fact that the doc has to accept these programs leaves him screwed. He loses money on every procedure, and has to hike rates to make up for it.
This too, will end.
You're right, but for different reasons -- the twisted economics of private health care in the U.S. are such that insurance companies run like hell away from anyone who is sick.
When you see health plans marketed here in the States, it's done by showing healthy, happy people, not showing sick people receiving good health care. That's because insurers want to recruit customers who are in good health and leave those with diabetes or other chronic conditions for some other company. It's like a game of hot potato: who gets stuck with all of the diabetics and their lifelong health problems?
As for health care being a societal issue, that's right on. Some people can take action to be healthy and remain that way, and others may take action but still wind up getting heart disease or diabetes because of family history, etc. The people who live healthy lives and stay healthy, as well as the people who live less healthy lifestyles but still wind up not getting diseases -- these are the people who "pay" for the people unfortunate enough to get sick. The healthy peoples' low costs subsidize the costs of those who wind up getting sick. In a nationalized health care system, those costs are spread out over the entire society, and it's a wash overall.
In a private system, it's in the interests of insurers to seek out only the people who don't get sick -- also known as people without pre-existing conditions (those who haven't already been sick). Those with pre-existing conditions (diabetics) or those at risk for health problems (smokers, older people, etc.) are passed up, or charged far higher premiums, essentially locking them out of health care coverage if they aren't covered through their employer.
Here's an interesting factor that would be very, very difficult to isolate, but that may be having an effect on health in the U.S. vs. the U.K. -- how many Americans are staying in stressful, underpaid, overworked jobs because they don't want to lose their health coverage? Seriously, that's one of the top priorities for basically anyone here, whether they can keep their health coverage or not. If big employers like General Motors or Ford or Boeing start to phase out health coverage because of the cost it adds to their products, it's going to start to get even worse for us.
Not that it isn't already bad -- this is National Cover the Uninsured Week here, which is a good time to remind everyone of the following:
* There are 46 million people in the U.S. without insurance (about 20 percent of the population).
* The country spends more than 20 percent of its GDP on health expenditures.
* We spend more per person on health care than most industrialized nations, and despite our "top of the line" care and technology, we have significantly lower indicators or health than most of those nations.
* Hospitals (emergency rooms in particular) that provide charity care are becoming the first point of contact for many people who are uninsured, which is making it hard for some hospitals to stay financially solvent.
It's not at all an exaggeration to say our health care system is in a crisis right now.