Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?

behind Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom?

According to the study just released by American Public Health Association:

We are 27th in life expectancy

21st in child health ranking (infant mortality and low birth weight)



BUT we spend TWICE as much money per person than those other countries.



Why?Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?The answer is Universal Health Care or Single Payer. See web site http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/

http://www.pnhp.org/news/articles_of_int鈥?/a>

Single Payor (Govt adm), Private Provider (your MD, RN is not a government employee)



Pharmaceutical companies spend large sums of money not just researching new drugs, but many times more on marketing to doctors, on the internet, and on TV. Many of the drugs they convince you to ask for do no better than generics on the market. Their influence skews studies that are biased towards the results they want.



Insurance companies spend 30% of every dollar you pay in premiums to an army of people who will scour your medical records to find some excuse not to pay your claim. They dictate what treatments you can receive and from whom.



For the same or less than we spend now we could provide healthcare to all Americans. You could work where you would be best suited or for yourself without worrying that you could lose your healthcare. You would even have access to care when you are between jobs or self employed. Employers and entrepreneurs would be free to focus on thier business rather than providing health insurance for employees. It isn't Healthcare anyway. There is little incentive in our current system to support preventative healthcare.



Insurance is NOT healthcare. If you think you are safe because you have insurance, THINK AGAIN! The second leading cause of bankruptcy in America is healthcare costs. You will find out how limited your access to healthcare is when you get sick. Read the stories of Americans denied healthcare or financially ruined attempting to pay for decent care many of whom HAVE INSURANCE!



WAKE-UP AMERICA

Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?
The easy answer is greed. The health care industry spend so much money, and our health has not improved because of it. I think part of the problem is the outrageous prescription drug prices are helping to fund ads on tv. This is only allowed in 1 other country. People are suffering financial hardships due to illness. Some have to declare bankruptcy as they watch their savings disappear because they are under insured. I don't know the answer, but I appreciate your question.Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?We are quick to go to the Dr. for the least little thing - like a hang nail or ingrown toenail - and our non-government subsidized medical professionals pay astronomical premiums for malpractice insurance - because we have such a litigious society (lawyers that sue for nothing) -They are not allowed to do that in other countries - and most of the countries you cited have government health care. Unmarried, underaged and drug addicted mothers are more likely to have infants with low birth weight - and higher infant mortality. Also - we tend to try to keep viable fetuses that would have spontaneously aborted(miscarried) normally. I'm not saying that this is wrong- just that it happens and contributes to those stats. But our rate of cerebral palsy, spina bifida, etc. are higher as well-because these children survive. Also- you have to look at the population of the countries - Stats, like polls, can be skewed to show anything you want them to ---Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?
Our pharmaceutical companies are on the leading edge of medicine, inventing the best medicines for the world. This costs a lot of money, and US residents pay for it (at least those with insurance) other poorer countries that dont obey patent laws just reverse engineer the medications and produce it for pennies, without having to do the research. If we allowed this to happen in our country, the pharm companies would cease to exist due to lack of profitability. Medicine would effectively be at a standstill with no major advances. We pave the way for medicine for the world, unfortunately, we must front the cost as well. Thats one reason for the cost...that and everybodies got their hands in the pot. Charging an arm and a leg for everything.

To explain why we are lower in the actual performance....this is even more of an opinion and its my own, but its backed up with sum edumaKation. America is full of hypochondriacs that think they need a pill for every ailment. Pill to wake up, pill to sleep, pill to make me feel better about taking so many pills etc... We over-medicate. We feel we must do it. Research on many meds say that their med prolongs life. It doesnt take into account the 10 other meds people are on. Docs have to prescribe it, because if they didnt "treat" something and something goes wrong a lawyer will pay a visit. Things go wrong on meds, due to meds, as long as the med was indicated, the doc is in the clear (within reason...docs are never ever in the clear). In short, its Americas search for the "fix" and perception of what health care should be and its doctors being told how to practice by our legal system which has no business in medicine....or anything really. Im not at all advocating not taking meds BTW, just saying we generally over medicate. Hope this helps to answer your question. Why does America rank lowest in "Health Care Performance"?do you have a url to this study because i lived in canada prior and know for a fact we get canadians down here all of the time to get healthcare because they have such long lines there for things like critical surgery - and also a lot of the doctors have left canada because they are so limited in what they can make etc so they moved down here ... i question this study ie: who conducted it etc ... please send the url so i can investigate it further - thanks... and don't get me wrong i am not questioning YOU I am questioning those who did the study :)