U.S. ranks 1st in spending 37th in quality
I think it is an old study that was done by the World Health Organization that concluded that the U.S. spends more than any other country on health care but ranks 37th in health system performance. Some interesting tidbits from that study include the fact that the U.S. has more MRI’s per capita than any other industrialized nation. Sounds like a boon for MRI manufacturers and maybe not much else. They are handy tools, however, and there are even private MRI centers that will perform a scan for cash around US$300, considerably less than the hospitals charge.
The article that reminded me of this study is focused on, what else, the current debate about health care reform. There are so many opinions but I don’t see much being said about how the use of “insurance” has be perverted. It’s all about covering your expenses and how some complicated “insurance” plan either privately or publicly managed will do it. But people, insurance is for unexpected catastrophic events, not for expected events. Why are people talking about maternity “insurance”? You know the delivery is going to happen so why should the government pay for it? Save the money and pay for it yourself. $5 co-pay every time you have a cold? Please.
Costs are out of control because “insurance” pays for everything and the incentive is to keep pushing up prices. It’s a little late for people trapped in the system now. The solution: get thee to Thailand!