And the facts are in: The US Health Care System costs way way way more than the other OECD countries

[웃 910]

Of all bankruptcies in the US - 60% are due to medical bills

Of all bankruptcies in Canada - 0 are due to medical bills

The USA has 50 million uninsured

Canada has 0 uninsured

Does economies of scale apply to health care? Add 50 million more people to the pool and it will drive down costs?

Universal coverage - Cheaper. Everyone in. No bankruptcies because of it. Not waiting until it's an emergency and being ambulanced to the ER cause you didn't get preventative care. Why would you not want this cheaper - responsible - moral - financially better for the citizens type of system? Why do you want your fellow citizens to be unhealthy with no access to care?

Health: Switzerland's health system is high-performing but must prepare for the future

17/10/2011 - Swiss residents currently enjoy easy access to a wide range of health care services and a vast array of choice in insurers and health care providers.

However, in their Review of Switzerland's Health Care System, the OECD and the World Health Organization warn that while the Swiss health system is currently amongst the best in the world, it will need to adapt to deal with increasing costs and rising chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Switzerland's life expectancy – which is amongst the highest in the world – and positive patient satisfaction reflect the high performance of the Swiss health system. But it comes at a considerable cost: Switzerland spent 11.4% of GDP on health in 2009, well above the OECD average of 9.6%.

Total health spending as a share of GDP (%), in 2009

* Information on data for Israel:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932315602.

Click here to access underlying data

Source: OECD Health Data 2011

Maintaining a large number of hospitals drives up costs. Though this system has served Switzerland well in the past, it will not be able to support the increasing numbers of patients suffering from chronic diseases who will need less intensive care on a more regular basis.

Governments and insurers should encourage healthcare providers to co-ordinate their efforts by developing innovative payment methods and medical records that can help improve the accuracy of diagnosis and reduce duplication of tests.

The Review recommends focusing more on primary care and preventing illness. Today, around 2.3% of total health expenditure is devoted to preventing disease and promoting good health. Signing a federal law on prevention, which clearly assigns responsibilities and provides the financial capacity to promote healthy life-styles across the country, would help.

Planning now for the future health workforce would ensure that Switzerland is equipped to respond to growing demands and changes in the types of health care that patients need. This includes training more health personnel, attracting and retaining health professionals such as nurses, encouraging more doctors to become general practitioners, and improving human resource management in hospitals.

Greater effort is needed to collect data on health outcomes so Switzerland can track key health risks and map people facing those risks. At present, Switzerland reports on the quality of care in hospitals. That should be extended to the wider system in order to allow patients, insurers and governments to informed choices.

Further OECD/WHO recommendations to improve value for money in Switzerland and prepare the system for future health challenges include:

• Assessing the clinical and cost effectiveness of health services;
• Increasing the scope for value-based competition in health insurance, for example by allowing insurers to contract selectively with providers
• Continuing with the implementation of funding hospitals based on the cases they deliver (DRGs), coupled with safeguards to avoid unwarranted increases in the number of services, and preventing undesirable subsidisation of inefficient hospitals;
• Pursuing further pharmaceutical reforms, encouraging patients to buy generic drugs and reducing the role of physicians in dispensing drugs.
• Monitoring the impact of health costs on households, such as high out-of-pocket payments and high-deductibles for insurance.

Further information on the Review of Switzerland's Health Care System is availablewww.oecd.org/health/reviews.

http://www.oecd.org/...1_1_1_1,00.html

Edited October 21, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Larry86 2]

We don't want it because intelligent people, such as myself, don't mind paying our fair share for insurance and we darn sure don't want to wait 6 months or more to get in to see a doctor when we have a problem (like Canadians do). The reform that our system needs is that those who don't wish to be insured shouldn't have to be seen if they can't afford it (unless it's life threatening injury in which case the hospital should be able to garnish their wages for recovery of spent money).

[sly_wolf 199]

We don't want it because intelligent people, such as myself, don't mind paying our fair share for insurance and we darn sure don't want to wait 6 months or more to get in to see a doctor when we have a problem (like Canadians do).

Not all Canadians wait for months as some people would have you think.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We don't want it because intelligent people, such as myself, don't mind paying our fair share for insurance and we darn sure don't want to wait 6 months or more to get in to see a doctor when we have a problem (like Canadians do).

Not all Canadians wait for months as some people would have you think.

Isn't it fun when people put their ignorance on display by offering comments on things they know absolutely NOTHING about?

[Krikit 1,165]

Canada isn’t some dictatorship. They aren’t oppressed. In 1966, the democratically elected government enacted their single-payer health care system (also known as Medicare). Since then, as a country, they have made a conscious decision to hold down costs. One of the ways they do that is by limiting supply, mostly for elective things, which can create wait times. Their outcomes are otherwise comparable to ours.

Please understand, the wait times could be overcome. They could spend more. They don’t want to. We can choose to dislike wait times in principle, but they are a byproduct of Canada’s choice to be fiscally conservative. They chose this. In a rational world, those who are concerned about health care costs and what they mean to the economy might respect that course of action. But instead, we attack.

Link

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Personally I've experienced far longer waiting times (2 weeks to get an appointment with a GP on average; 2-3 days in the UK) and my worst experiences so far have been in the US, too. I've met both rude and lovely doctors in both the UK and the US - so not much difference there, except, I suppose, that I paid quite a bit in the US to have the pleasure of the doctor being rude to me! I suppose one advantage of the US system is that it is very easy to switch doctors, and I've since grown a bit more canny and do more research on the web beforehand. It's more confusing trying to navigate insurance websites and find out exactly who will cover you, however.

I know in the UK it can depend on where you live, and I was always fortunate to live in places with really great doctors/hospitals. My grandparents in particular have received stellar care in the hands of the NHS.

It's not difficult to go private in the UK if you wish; I've known two people have operations privately, and costs were still cheaper than in the US. The one private hospital I saw was great, too. Personal rooms that were more like a hotel than a hospital, and personally assigned nurses.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Isn't it fun when people put their ignorance on display by offering comments on things they know absolutely NOTHING about?

I know quite a bit about it being married to a Canadian.

As my wife would put it, - she's thankful that it is there, but wishes for so much better. Wait times, etc. are horrible if you need an MRI, etc. Here in the states you can get it in the same week, up there you're waiting 2 - 4 months in which many times it's caused more health issues that could have been avoided/taken care of earlier.

Even appointments for her primary she had to schedule a few months out because of how ridiculously booked they are up there...

Edited October 21, 2011 by DJ Kyo

[Dakine10 5,452]

Even appointments for her primary she had to schedule a few months out because of how ridiculously booked they are up there...

She must have liked her doc. That's not typical at all. I only remember one time having to wait longer than a week and they gave me the option of seeing a different MD if I didn't want to wait.

[sly_wolf 199]

I know quite a bit about it being married to a Canadian.

As my wife would put it, - she's thankful that it is there, but wishes for so much better. Wait times, etc. are horrible if you need an MRI, etc. Here in the states you can get it in the same week, up there you're waiting 2 - 4 months in which many times it's caused more health issues that could have been avoided/taken care of earlier.

Even appointments for her primary she had to schedule a few months out because of how ridiculously booked they are up there...

All of this varies from province to province etc. No different than here. Not all states or regions have the same level of service.

[sly_wolf 199]

Isn't it fun when people put their ignorance on display by offering comments on things they know absolutely NOTHING about?

Media and dishonest politicians with their own personal agenda's are to blame.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Media and dishonest politicians with their own personal agenda's are to blame.

Or is it stoopid people that parrot these talking points w/o any knowledge of the actual subject matter?