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by Perryman on August 14th, 2007

Perryman

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If The United States has “The best health care in the world”, why then does it stand. 42nd in life expectancy in the world?

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  • by inconsequential on August 15th, 2007

    inconsequential

    The notion that the US has the best health care in the world is a lie perpetuated by government and the for-profit health care industry, and compounded by American willingness to accept that if there was a better alternative, they'd already have it. While it's a widely embraced belief, it's not supported by any competent, peer-reviewed research literature.

    I've posted this reading list in another thread, but it deserves cross-posting here. It's definitely worth wading through:

    Baicker, K. & Chandra, A. (2004). Medicare spending, the physician workforce, and beneficiaries' quality of care. Health Affairs, W4, 184-197.

    Carrasquillo, O., Himmelstein, D. U., Woolhandler, S., & Bor, D. H. (1999). A reappraisal of private employers’ role in providing health insurance. The New England Journal of Medicine, 340, 109-114

    Conyers, J. (2003). A fresh approach to health care in the United States: Improved and expanded Medicare for all [Editorial]. American Journal of Public Health, 93(2), 193.

    Davis, K., Schoen, C., Guterman, S., Shih, T., Schoenbaum, S. C. & Weinbaum, I. (2007). Slowing the growth of U.S. health care expenditures: What are the options? The Commonwealth Fund Report, 47.

    Devereaux P. J., Choi P. T. L., Lacchetti C., Weaver B., Schünemann H. J., Haines T., Lavis J. N., Grant B. J. B., Haslam D. R. S., Bhandari M., Sullivan T., Cook D. J., Walter, S. D., Meade M., Khan H., Bhatnagar N., & Guyatt H. (2002). A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing mortality rates of private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 166(11), 1399–1406.

    Fisher, E. S. & Welch, H. G. (1999). Avoiding the unintended consequences of growth in medical care: How might more be worse? Journal of the American Medical Association, 281(5), 446-453.

    Hansen, F. (2004). The curse of private funding. Workforce Management, 83(7), 79-80.

    Himmelstein D. U., Woolhandler S., & Wolfe S. M. (2004). Administrative waste in the U.S. health care system in 2003: The cost to the nation, the states, and the District of Columbia, with state-specific estimates of potential savings. International Journal of Health Services, 34(1), 79–86.

    Himmelstein, D. U., Warren, E., Thorne, D., & Woolhandler, S. (2005). Illness and injury as contributors to bankruptcy. Health Affairs, W5, 63-73.

    Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy. (2005). Third annual IHSP hospital 200: The nation's most—and least—expensive hospitals, fiscal year 2003/2004. Orinda, CA: Author.

    Krugman, P. (2005, April 11). Ailing Health Care. The New York Times

    Lasser, K. E., Himmelstein, D. U. & Woolhandler, S. (2006). Access to care, health status, and health disparities in the United States and Canada: Results of a cross-national population-based survey. American Journal of Public Health, 96(7), 1-7.

    Mahar, M. (2006). Money-driven medicine: The real reason health care costs so much. New York: Collins.

    National Coalition On Health Care. (2007). Facts on health care costs. Washington, DC: Author.

    Perelman, M. (2002). Steal this idea: Intellectual property rights and the Corporate confiscation of creativity. New York: Palgrave.

    Woolhandler, S. & Himmelstein, D. U. (1997). Costs of care and administration at for-profit and other hospitals in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine, 336(11), 769-774.

    Woolhandler, S., Campbell, T. & Himmelstein, D. U. (2003). Costs of health care administration in the United States and Canada. The New England Journal of Medicine, 349(8), 768-775

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