Misleading WHO Health Care Report - Part I

According to the WHO the United States is ranked 24th in the world in life expectancy. People in the U.S. live to be an average of 70 years old while people in Japan (ranked 1st) live to be an average of 74.5 years old.  

So according to this statistic one could come to the conclusion that the United States has inferior health care. But that conclusion would be wrong.  

While quality of health care plays some role in life expectancy, there are many, many other factors that play into this statistic as well. For life expectancy rates to mean anything at all in relation to health care one would have to control for things such as homicide rates, accident rates, diet, exercise, genetics, smoking rates, etc.  

When these rates are controlled for the United States is at or near the top of the heap.  

Americans are far more mobile than the rest of the world. We are far more likely to own a care and use it than any other country. Thus higher auto fatality rates.  

Also, because of our wealth Americans find all kinds of dangerous ways to spend their time from mountain climbing, to skiing, to eating junk food on a daily basis.  

All of these things are important issues in and of themselves, but they have little to do with the quality of the health care system in America.

The Inferior Massachusetts Health Care Plan

Some people may reject analysis of socialized medicine in Europe or Canada based on the idea that "we can do it better in America".  But the state of Massachusetts is proving this line of thinking to be incorrect.  Massachusetts adopted a government run universal health care plan in 2006 and in only three years has created a myriad of problems.  

State spending on health care has increased 42 percent in Massachusetts since 2006 which is 33 percent above the national average.  According to a Cato study, insurance premiums have been increasing at nearly double the national average average (9% in 2009).  

Taxes have gone up to pay for the plan, but they aren't enough.  The plan is racking up a significant deficit and the Massachusetts government is discussing cuts in reimbursing doctors and further rationing of care to make up the deficit.  

The Boston Globe reports the average wait is now 63 days to see a family doctor and 50 days to see a specialist.  

The number of uninsured has come down, but not dramatically.  Cato estimates over 200,000 are still uninsured.  

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council ranks Massachusetts last of all 50 states for business friendly health care policies.  

Government medicine hasn't worked in other countries around the world and it's proving to be equally unsuccessful in the United States as well.  

Canada's Inferior Heath Care System - Part III

John Stossel, who works for ABC (specifically 20/20) and has been writing and reporting on government waste for years, has written an insightful article about the problems of socialized medicine, specifically in Canada.  Here is a snippet:

"People line up for care, some of them die. That's what happens," says Canadian doctor David Gratzer, author of "The Cure". He liked Canada's government health care until he started treating patients.

"The more time I spent in the Canadian system, the more I came across people waiting for radiation therapy, waiting for the knee replacement so they could finally walk up to the second floor of their house." "You want to see your neurologist because of your stress headache? No problem! Just wait six months. You want an MRI? No problem! Free as the air! Just wait six months."

Polls show most Canadians like their free health care, but most people aren't sick when the poll-taker calls. Canadian doctors told us the system is cracking. One complained that he can't get heart-attack victims into the ICU.

In America, people wait in emergency rooms, too, but it's much worse in Canada. If you're sick enough to be admitted, the average wait is 23 hours.

"We can't send these patients to other hospitals. Dr. Eric Letovsky told us. "Every other emergency department in the country is just as packed as we are."

More than a million and a half Canadians say they can't find a family doctor. Some towns hold lotteries to determine who gets a doctor. In Norwood, Ontario, "20/20" videotaped a town clerk pulling the names of the lucky winners out of a lottery box. The losers must wait to see a doctor.

Shirley Healy, like many sick Canadians, came to America for surgery. Her doctor in British Columbia told her she had only a few weeks to live because a blocked artery kept her from digesting food. Yet Canadian officials called her surgery "elective."

"The only thing elective about this surgery was I elected to live," she said.