$2.2 trillion: Amount the U.S. spent
on healthcare in 2007.
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emailRecent Comments About $2.2 Trillion
It isn't "the few", it's all
It isn't "the few", it's all of us, its the human condition. And there is currently no "system" as defined in any dictionary. None of us get out...
By Michael4 C : July 11, 2:01pm
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine had an interesting article about rationing health care. It started with the following question:
You have advanced kidney...
By Bill B : July 17, 7:47am
To: all
Fm: Opinion on US
To: all
Fm: Opinion on US health issues by the real health provider of
small to medium sized, and successful company Ceo
Dt: 7-18-09
It is...
By Jung S K : July 18, 7:42am
Comments
Submitted by Jung S K : July 18, 11:42am
To: all
Fm: Opinion on US health issues by the real health provider of
small to medium sized, and successful company Ceo
Dt: 7-18-09
It is interesting to see this important issues coming out of grave. We are the payer
of most burden, blinded faithful to the US systems which are governed by those
hoodlums who only pursuit their own self interests. The simple thing is that most of
employers who are paying the bulk of health cost of US realise that the health
insurance is doubling last 4-5 years. My small company provided medical, dental
workers compensation insurances with total cost of about $0.25mil only 5 years
ago for 55-60 US employees. Now the cost is $0.50mil which will eat up half of
company profit. I am sure, in next 3-4 years it will reach $1.0mil with all the profit
goes down draining to health cost. In other words, we the company are working
full time to pay health insurance and no more money left for investment, or for anything.
Do you really want to see this happening in US? What is wrong with US system?
Why we are not able to handle this problem? I am one of naturalized US citizen.
I start business with no money, I mean not a cent, about 15years ago. No body
is interest in investment. I do not have even a dollar. No US bank or government
is going to provide starting money. After 15 years of works, the company grows
to provide paying $3.5mil/year company tax to government, if all other hidden
tax are included it will be $7mil, paying payroll to our employees including all
the benefit etc. For last 4 years, I was auditted by IRS with no single reasons
to find errors or mistakes but still want to bother us in addition to all these
health issues too. Whenever there are problems, we are the first to be the
target to tax increase, health cost increase etc etc etc. Anyway I do not want
to argue about the US decision making systems. However the health issues
are critical to our survival. When we try to solve business problem( or any
other problems), we go directly to the heart of the issue, not the periperal
problems. If you do not do this, you will fail your business. Same to the government,
I guess. What is the issue of US health problem? Do you know where is the
problem? As I see the national discussion on the issue, I cannot see no one
knows the heart of problem. Let me ask one simple question. Is there anyone
who knows, Why US is currently paying more than 17% of total national products
on health cost while all developed countries( Canada, England, Japan, Germany,
etc) are paying only 5% ? Where the 12% of difference goes for? The US is
able to provides 4 times better health service than all other countries? US
doctors are 4 times better than all other countries? Yes, US has 50mil people
are out of health service while all others are providing reasonable service
with 4 less times of cost. Why? If you do not know the heart of problem, you
only try to solve this issue by increasing tax and tax and tax to rich or whoever.
Why? Basically the reason is waste. The US health cost is full of waste. The
term Waste is good for those who are seeping it. Actually I call this FRAUD
in frank term. Where are the Fraud Money heading for? US health systems
are nothing but a FRAUD systems, Collecting honest mony from companies,
individual tax payers, honest hard earnied rich peoples TO THOSE FRAUD
PEOPLE such as BAD LAWYERS, BAD LAZY DOCTORS, HEALTH SERVICE
PEOPLE, HOSPITAL, FRAUD STRATEGISTS ETC ETC. If you do not know
how to slash this 12% of excess, useless, fraud money, congress will keep
increasing tax and tax and tax. Why do you want to repeat this kind of
stupid things? US decision systems such as congress, senate and president
are no longer working well on this special interest problem. Obvisouly we
need some kind of special committee who has empower to resolve this problem,
has to kick in to get rid of 12% of FRAUD MONEY, I strongly suggest.
Submitted by Bill B : July 17, 11:47am
The New York Times Magazine had an interesting article about rationing health care. It started with the following question:
You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $54,000. Is a few more months worth that much?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19healthcare-t.html?pagewante...
Just some food for thought here...
Submitted by Karen R : July 11, 11:47am
The amount is so huge I can't get my mind around it. Maybe we should look at where this money actually went. Prisoners receiving elective treatments that the average American does without because of co-pays, etc?? Treatment for illegal immigrants?? Medical treatment for citizens in foreign countries?? I am against socialized medicine - I know people in Canada and I don't think they are happy with their system. This is supposed to be the wealthiest country in the world and we put our taxpayers at the bottom of the list. How long can this country survive if we don't provide for the people paying the bill? Your senators & representatives have the best health care money can buy provided by you for the rest of their lives - how can they possibly understand what the average working person deals with on a daily basis, much less those individuals that don't have jobs or health care?
Submitted by Mark W : July 11, 2:41am
2.2 trillion, for approx 304 million people = $7236 per person on healthcare.
The United Kingdom government spends £110 billion for a population of 60 million: £1840 per person on healthcare. Presume $1.70 = £1.00 and you get $3130 per person.
US healthcare covers 86% of the population, UK healthcare covers 100%.
Yes there are waiting lists in the UK system. Yes the facilities aren't as plush and the people working for the NHS are probably not paid as much as their opposite numbers in the USA. But it is a system that works, and works quite well. For where the NHS has gaps, companies like BUPA step in.
The radical way would be to adopt healthcare UK style. That would slash healthcare spending to about a trillion a year, maybe even less, and certainly other non-healthcare costs would disappear too.
The problem is systemic in the whole US system. Doctors get extremely deep into debt to get qualified, and feel they need to earn six figure incomes to pay off their six figure loans. Insurance companies are in for the buck - to the point that insurance companies are overriding physicians decisions about what is best for their patients, and that the CEO's of so-called non-profit insurance companies are bringing home 9 digit salaries. Clinics that are required to treat emergency room patients have to price their "product" to allow for a lot of "shrinkage" (i.e. the people who can pay, pay for themselves and those who can't). Oh yes there's the American lifestyle too.
Submitted by Anonymous j : July 10, 6:20pm
When I was doing my residency in 1995/1996, I learnt then, that a CEO of an HMO, received a bonus of 50 million dollars that year, in addition to his salary. There in lies a piece of the puzzle, why health care costs have sky rocketed in the last decade or so. I believe that Health Care should be a non for profit industry. There is something morally repugnant about getting a bonus of this size, as payment for taking care of the ailing. A for profit pharmaceutical company or a hospital corporation traded on Wall Street, will have slightly different priorities than Medicare for instance, to say the least.
There is indeed a lot of waste and excess in the system, and most practioners like myself are well aware of it. We need to have an honest discussion about where most of these excesses lie, including frivilous litigation which in its own right, bears a significant burden of responsibility for the sheer magnitude of this country`s health care costs.
And for those who think that Government should stay out of health care, let them give up their medicare privileges first, to avoid being called hypocrits. I am not only one who believes that as a nation we cannot achieve greatness, without first making health care a right, for each and every citizen, instead of a privilege.
It is not necessary to emulate the British or the Canadians or even the French, whose health care costs are only a fraction of ours, with equivalent outcomes or better. We should instead aim to surpass them, by curtailing the bickering in congress, and starting an open forum in communities throughout the United States, encouraging vigorous debate, until a comprehensive solution is found with a price tag to match it.
Submitted by Victoria L : July 10, 12:43pm
I agree with Michael that so much is spent for so little. I do not think we need more competition among insurance providers. Already they seem to get together to set very high prices. They are all entrepreneurs racing to the top of the profits mountain. a Government run medicare type insurance offered as an alternative to all who want it, could put some restraints on the cost and start a race to lower prices.
Submitted by Your Name : July 6, 10:32am
incredible stats
Submitted by Bob B : July 1, 7:06pm
If my arithmetic is correct, $2.2 trillion equates to about 1/7 of GDP and almost $16,000 per income earner in the United States. After all they have to support the whole population. That's more than some people make. Before we try to figure how to pay the bill, whether thru private insurance or a government program, we need to find out why the figure is so high, where the inefficiencies are, who's skimming the cream, where the waste is. Is it drugs? Is it insurance profits? Is it unnecessary procedures? Is it exorbitant salaries? Is it unnecessary equipment?
Part of the problem is insurance itself. When there was no insurance we had Church-operated, not-for-profit hospitals, we had doctors who could adjust their fees depending on the ability of the patient to pay or negotiated their terms, we had doctors who didn't call for unnecessary pricey tests. All self-control went out the window when insurance became common.
Part of the problem was introduced with Medicare. Before Medicare, caregivers presented the care-recipient with a bill. The bill clearly itemized what it was for and the patient could understand it. If the patient had insurance, the patient filed forms with the insurance company. The Patient was the policeman against fraud. But after Medicare, the bills were submitted directly to the insurance company bypassing the policeman, opening the door to fraud and waste and error. And also lifting the governor on costs. Soon even private insurers used the Medicare system. Procedures are now numbers that the computer can understand but the patient can't. And the forms used are produced by the AMA. So where is competition?
We need to re-introduce competition into health-care. We don't need the monopoly of a government run program. We need to put the patient back in the driver's seat.
Submitted by Doug F : June 16, 9:58am
Dale is absolutely correct on the root of the problem. Our view of health and how we as Americans except responsiblity for it is the ultimate problem. We must start with holding people accountable. If you choose to ignore your health through poor habits then seek out health treatments later, you should be made to bare the cost of excessive and expensive treatments. We can no longer say that people are not to blame, but that the evil companies that supply us with food and technology have caused us to sit around and get unhealthy. Pay me now or pay me later maintenance has always resulted in higher cost later. I don't think we should take choice away from people, but the system should not have to pay for the cost of those few who don't choose to make healthy decisions for thier lives.
Submitted by Michael4 C : July 11, 6:01pm
It isn't "the few", it's all of us, its the human condition. And there is currently no "system" as defined in any dictionary. None of us get out alive, so eventually we all have "terminal" conditions. I agree that while we have reasonable expectations of good health, it is advisable to get routine checkups, etc., to prevent further "deterioration" or to catch it early, in time, to do something less expensively, and our current "non-system" inhibits that because once you are diagnosed, then what? You get dumped as fast as they (your insurance company) can, and too bad for you after that. Go broke. Go bankrupt. Or just die. How often do men go the doctors' office? How often do the poor? "Holding people accountable" compared to what? What is the benchmark? Are we going to penalize the sick and pay the healthy?
Submitted by Dale W : June 12, 12:56pm
Michael, it is not just the sytem and/or culture of practitioners that need to change, it is an overall American culture that needs to be changed. Consider the following - childhood obesity is at an all time high, which ultimately will lead to adult diseases (some of which are being seen at younger ages already; the American diet is high in fats and sugar, leading to arterial disease and diabetes; exercise is more of a fad than a practice - physical education at our public schools is now more of an option than a requirement; a record number of Americans are getting lap band surgery to help reduce weight, yet many opt for the type where they can release the band so they can eat more when they want to - talk about wanting your cake and eating it too! When we do get sick after our unhealthy lifestyles, we decide then and only then that we need medical treatment and no cost is too much (as long as you are insured, which 70-75% of Americans are). When our loved ones reach an age where death is around the corner we want to spend whatever it takes to keep them alive as long as possible - 30+% of all intensive care costs are spent on patients that ultimately live less than 6 months! Until we change our own habits and views towards health and life we will not reduce the cost of healthcare - just spend more via government programs.
Submitted by Michael A : June 10, 9:33pm
It is not the amount that is staggering. It is the failure to produce the best preventative health care for the entire population while spending this amount that is shocking. To spend so much and come up so short is an embarrassment. We need a change in system. A change in the culture of providers and a change in priorities.
Submitted by Anonymous S : June 10, 10:32am
I'd be curious to see how this relates to the profits in the health care sector...