This is when you know reform is needed:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

The Economist praises the Swedish health care system over the American on issues of incentives.

Article linked here:

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13899647

Also....an image worth keeping in mind for defenders of the broken system:



Now, there's something wrong with this picture. See if you can tell me what it is.....

X-posted from my own LJ.

Comments

[redheadrat.livejournal.com]

reform in a way to spend more
or reform in a way to have more efficiency?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Have more efficiency. Our system sucks in providing coverage and is exorbitantly expensive. Worst of both worlds.

[redheadrat.livejournal.com]

system is pretty good in providing coverage
cost is driven by legislature

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Its a beautiful country... with many forests. And hot chicks ;)
And people are very calm, and almost never yell at each other. Go figure.

[kadeshaderow.livejournal.com]

So the answer is...price controls?

[koneko-desu.livejournal.com]

So...if the USA's government is already spending as much money, if not more than many of the countries in the world that has been praised for their public healthcare systems...why is the USA's system so...well...broken?? I'm genuinely confused, where is all that money going? Looking at that chart the US spends more money than Canada on its healthcare spendings per person and yet I think most people would agree that Canadian citizens enjoy a much better public healthcare system than Americans do. You guys should really start writing to the guys at the top demanding that they break down where all this money's going because it's kind of...ridiculous.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

the healthcare is better in USA... but the price of it!

[weswilson]

Better than where? Do you have any independent research to back that up?

[kadeshaderow.livejournal.com]

...most peoplewould agree that Canadian citizens enjoy a much better public healthcare system than Americans do.

That's because other than medicare and medicaid, we don't have a public system.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

VA.
rated by its patients better than any private system in the U.S.

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

Too many useless regulations and a Congress unwilling to let go.

Where your money is going

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're impressed by credentials, Princeton's James Madison Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Uwe E. Reinhardt (http://wws.princeton.edu/people/display_person.xml?netid=reinhard&display=Core) says that the U.S. spends "somewhere between 25 and 30 percent [on] administration" (http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/01/28/how-the-us-measures-up-to-canadas-health-care-system/3783/). Most of that comes from dealing with (and fighting with) your myriad insurance companies, whose primary fiduciary duty is to deny health care whenever and wherever possible (they owe it to their shareholders).

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

"Now, there's something wrong with this picture. See if you can tell me what it is.....

There's way too much spending on public health care.

More importantly, though, it does put the lie to the idea that we can do much about costs. The public spending isn't going away, and will increase as it replaces some of the private spending. The issue? Obamacare does not address private, non-out-of-pocket spending very well, which is the other big-ticket item. The folks who'll get on the stupid public opinion will either a) not have been covered before or b) be switching from private to public. Spending won't change.

The problem isn't the type of payment. It's structural, and it's not going to change unless we allow ourselves to have shitty care like the other countries on the list.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

your continued ability to ignore the facts of the situation are a constant source of humor.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Which countries on that list have shitty care?

Your opinions are mostly very well thought out but on this point you are in error. Statistics on infant mortality, etc. bear out that the U.S. only has good health care for people who pay for premium service and those other countries beat us by pretty much every benchmark, including cost efficiency.

[kadeshaderow.livejournal.com]

By the way, does this bar graph include R&D on various pharmaceuticals and/or life-saving devices?

[redheadrat.livejournal.com]

It does, since US customers have to inadvertently bear that cost.

Defenders of the broken system?

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

You mean Congress?

As for what's wrong with your picture, it merely shows spending. I can reduce spending to zero simply by forbidding anyone to spend anything on health care.

Re: Defenders of the broken system?

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

So what you're saying is that Americans are fundamentally different than the rest of the world and need more healthcare? Or what? What are you saying?

Re: Defenders of the broken system?

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

everyone in those countries without exception can get prescription drugs, regular checkups, emergency care, and lifesaving surgery with $0 direct cost.

everyone. every single citizen. with a lower per capita infant mortality rate, doctor malpractice, and a life expectancy as high or higher than the united states.

the united states congress didn't do this to us, your free market did.

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

The general rule of thumb says -- everything is more expensive per person, in America.

If one were to compare the cost of research or manufacturing in America versus other countries the chart would look similar. Scientific research in the US is more expensive than in Switzerland, Canada, etc. It doesn't necessarily imply 'reform' is needed its simply a circumstantial result of a number of variables which are soemwhat intrinsic to the area in question.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

The 'circumstantial variables' being that we are getting fucked in the ass hole by people who we hold our cheeks for and then thanking them for their slab of meat.

No, 'reform' isn't needed because they keep kissing us on the cheek and telling us that they are fucking us for patriotism, thank you very much sir can I have another.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Japan is much more expensive in many respects.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

I love it when people refer to Sweden as opposed to the US. LOL. Just. LOL.

Besides, http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/202247.html?thread=12049415#t12049415