Current Events > why does the US spend so much on health care but have such bad health outcomes?

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http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective

We use more medical technology and take more drugs than people in other countries, which pushes prices up, but we neglect to address the upstream or root causes of our health problems.

The podcast tells a story about how someone with Type I Diabetes. This individual had access to high quality medical care, and utilized it and his medication appropriately, but had to have a leg amputated anyways due to his poor living conditions and lack of access to safe and clean housing.

This is in line with research that shows alleviating poverty can save on health expenditures later on:
http://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cpp.37.3.283

This paper has two purposes. First, it documents the historical context of MINCOME, a Canadian guaranteed annual income field experiment (1974 to 1979). Second, it uses routinely collected health administration data and a quasi-experimental design to document an 8.5 percent reduction in the hospitalization rate for participants relative to controls, particularly for accidents and injuries and mental health. We also found that participant contacts with physicians declined, especially for mental health, and that more adolescents continued into grade 12. We found no increase in fertility, family dissolution rates, or improved birth outcomes. We conclude that a relatively modest GAI can improve population health, suggesting significant health system savings.
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Simple - insurance and big pharma. Get rid of both, socialize healthcare, and you'll be at the level of other first world countries

The government massively drives up the cost of healthcare. To get a pill to market you have to spend billions while jumping through the hoops the FDA sets up. The FDA plays it safe because it looks bad for them if an approved product hurts people. On the other hand, if life saving or life extending medicine is delayed or denied, the thousands of lives lost during the long approval process are less visible.

We also use health insurance for everything and it separates the consumer from the provider, drastically distorting the price. It's like using car insurance for an oil change. There are also a lot of regulations that limit the number of healthcare providers, mandate long and expensive processes, and just overall limit competition.

We need a free market in healthcare, but rolling back entitlements is near impossible. It's easiest to blame the market when the government breaks down market functions. "The government should fix it" is always a simple one size fits all answer.

Darklit_Minuet posted...

Simple - insurance and big pharma. Get rid of both, socialize healthcare, and you'll be at the level of other first world countries

Getting rid of big pharma isn't what you want. There's a reason why those companies are producing most drugs. Contrary to horror stories about epipens, they are spending a shit ton on R&D. And lack of international patent protection means those companies need to make most of their profits in the states.

What you do want to do is reduce the symbiotic relationship of pharma, doctors and insurance. Prices have skyrocketed in large part because what you see on your bill is rarely what is actually paid. Insurance and hospitals have their own negotiationed rates, on top of whatever your insurance leaves you paying. You also have big pharma skirting bribes by buying lunch and other things to get Dr's to push medicines based on what gives them the best kickbacks.

Top it off with American culture. Between our generally poor diets and the perception that we shouldn't take a day off to see a doctor before we get sick you've got a recipe for expensive and net ineffective care for your average Joe.

Something as complicated as healthcare doesn't have a simple solution. Uhc alone won't solve the problems, it's just shifting the cost. I think it's an important step, but you can't just adopt another countries plan and call it a day.
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I Like Toast posted...

Something as complicated as healthcare doesn't have a simple solution. Uhc alone won't solve the problems, it's just shifting the cost. I think it's an important step, but you can't just adopt another countries plan and call it a day.

I don't think you're referring to me, but just to be clear that that's not what I'm trying to suggest.
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Yeah not you.
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