Comments on: THE UNINSURED, WHAT ARE THE FACTS?

By: Catron

Catron — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:55:12 +0000

Most of these metrics are meaningless as measurements of a nation’s health system. The only one to which I’d pay any attention at all is the “happy with their health care” percentage.

As it happens, the U.S. comes out pretty well on the “happiness” scale. Meanwhile, here’s a link showing that Canadians are far less happy with their much-lauded system.

By: Bill Boissiere

Bill Boissiere — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:43:39 +0000

I’m curious — if you were an alien first coming to Earth and your captain asked you to look at all the health care systems in the world, what numbers do you think matter the most to determine which countries have the best overall system.

Pick the ones that you think matter the most in order (feel free to add to my list):

- % of centenarians in the population
- Infant mortality
- Life expectancy
- % of the population happy with their health care
- Number of doctors / thousands
- Cost of health care / average wage

By: Catron

Catron — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:35:52 +0000

Virtually every hospital in the U.S. has a charity program for such patients. I routinely approve large balance charity write-offs for patients who have received VERY expensive treatments. The yearly total for this program runs into many millions of dollars.

Ironically, Marc, it is well-documented that uninsured Americans receive more and better health care than “insured” Brits trapped in the NHS.

By: Marc Brown

Marc Brown — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:10:41 +0000

What would you tell a 39 year old uninsured woman who has had kidney cancer for two years but is not eligible for Medicaid and who has never been able to get anything other than piecemeal treatment and certainly no major surgery or drugs - and the cancer is spreading? This is a real case - I can send her blog link if you like, and there are many more like her.

By: Catron

Catron — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:36:31 +0000

The answer is a resounding A. That “study” was produced by the fine folks at PNHP, notorious for fudging their data. See this post.

By: Bill Boissiere

Bill Boissiere — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:50:51 +0000

How do you react to the recent study showing that 40,000+ people per year die because of a lack of health insurance?

A. I don’t believe that study
B. It’s such a small number we should not do anything about it. Let them die.
C. We should not try to cover these people, but instead launch a campaign to educate them to try and find a charity that can help them
D. It’s a shame! They should be covered in some way.
E. A sub-segment of these 40,000 should be covered: children & pregnant women. Let the rest die.