The NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the developed world, according to a study (pdf) published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The “surprising” findings show the NHS saving more lives for each pound spent as a proportion of national wealth than any other country apart from Ireland over 25 years. Among the 17 countries considered, the United States healthcare system was among the least efficient and effective. Researchers said that this contradicted assertions by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that the NHS needed competition and choice to become more efficient…. “The government proposals to change the NHS are largely based on the idea that the NHS is less efficient and effective than other countries, especially the US,” said Professor Colin Pritchard, of Bournemouth University, who analysed a quarter of a century’s data from 1980…. “The results question why we need a big set of health reform proposals … The system works well. Look at the US and you can see where choice and competition gets you. Pretty dismal results.”…. Using the latest data from the World Health Organisation, the paper shows that although Labour’s tax-and-spend strategy for the NHS saw health spending rise to a record 9.3% of GDP, this was less than Germany with 10.7% or the US with 15%. Not only was the UK cheaper, says the paper, it saved more lives. The NHS reduced the number of adult deaths a million of the population by 3,951 a year - far better than the nearest comparable European countries. France managed 2,779 lives a year and Germany 2,395.
Listen to Fox Noise Channel long enough, and one of the propaganda points that will be firmly implanted in your cerebral cortex (assuming, of course, that you even have one) will be the idea that the free market makes EVERYTHING better. Yep, the beautiful thing about capitalism is that competition makes everything better, more effective, more efficient- food, transportation, service, health care. The problem with that belief is that, despite the propaganda, competition and health care really don’t go together all that well. It’s not that treatments and medications aren’t moved to market faster, but when the delivery of health care services is driven by economic factors, the people who suffer are those without the economic means to purchase health care.
It’s long been a point of propaganda pride for Americans to claim that we have the best health care system in the world. Except that when you examine the facts, that assertion really isn’t borne out. When one of the largest states in the Union, Texas, is OK with 25% of its population lacking health insurance, how can any reasonable, lucid person claim that America has the world’s best health care system? When any attempt to bring our health care delivery system up to the standards much of the rest of the civilized world take for granted is decried as “Socialism,” how can anyone claim that we’re #1?
(Full disclosure: I’ve been without health insurance myself for the past 18 months. Thankfully, I’m healthy…but there’s always that “What if…?” lurking in the recesses of my mind.)
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it until someone prys my cold, dead fingers from my keyboard: any health care delivery system that is not a single-payer system that provides a guaranteed minimum level of health care to ALL Americans is immoral. If a country rotting from the inside like England can provide cost-effective and efficient health care to all their citizens, then no rational argument can be made for why America cannot do the same. If we can fight two wars simultaneously, we can afford to provide health care for every American. If we can provide billions in foreign aid to countries around the world, we can afford to provide health care for every American. It’s not that we don’t have the resources to do the right thing, it’s that we choose not to do the right thing. We’ve been propagandized by the Right-wing and the health care industry into continuing a system where health care is available to those who have insurance and/or the bank account to pay the bills. Basic health care, and in some cases, survival, is very much proportional to the size of your wallet. Generally speaking, if you have no money, you get no health care. The worst thing is that we seem to OK with a health care system that functions thusly for those without insurance:
A. Don’t get sick.
B. If you do get sick, die quickly.
America is the still the most powerful military and economic entity in the world. It’s just too bad that our health care system ranks right up their with Sierra Leone.
