Health Care Around the World Compared to US
Posted in Health Care
Apr. 17, 2008 at 23:29
by BrendaBee
I went WOW! when I ran across this article because I have been bleating against universal health care it seems for ever. This article gives an overview of the health care systems in five countries that are capitalist democracies like the United States.Be sure to check the related reading for a graph comparing these countries to the United States, but please read on and don't be mislead into thinking any of these systems are necessarily superior to ours. One very important point: the governments of every country controls the costs by setting the charges for doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurances and drugs in every country. The only system in the United States where this is the practice is the military system. And I don't believe it will ever be allowed by the medical community in the United States. And given the clout this industry has in Washington the politicians will never force it.
The military sets the prices they will pay the doctors for procedures and I have yet to find a civilian doctor who refused the payment offered even if they are not sign up with the military plan, or Tricare. We do have to choose a General care doctor from a list of those signed up by the program. These doctors take care of all of our needs and must be consulted and then they refer us to any specialists. As for drugs the cost of my drugs for a 90 day supply is either $3, $9, $11 or $22 when I use the mail order Express Scripts program. If I used Walmart or Walgreen or any other source outside the military bases where drugs are free or the mail order the cost is for a 30 day supply. Some people think that our drugs are paid for by your tax dollars and this is just not the case. Now the tax payers do pick up the tab for the medical insurance policy offered to retired career military personnel and their spouse and dependents to age 18. But so is this the case for most government workers be it federal, state or city.
Now let me clue you into my drug provider: Express Scripts is not a drug company. Express Scripts is a drug provider company which the defense department negotiates with and signs a contract with the company offering the best deal. These drug provider companies in turn negotiates prices with the drug companies. You better believe the drug companies and the drug provider companies are making a profit or they would not be in the business. And yet look at the cost of my drugs. Oh, and one more thing, I have never failed to be provided with the drug my doctor has prescribed though there is a list of available drugs, but it is very extensive.
The Senior Drug Bills, both the Republican and the Democrats claims to "negotiate" with drug companies but that is just semantics because the government negotiators have no authority. And the cost of drugs for most seniors has gone up 30% since the plan was initiated. The first year the costs went down approximately 25% because the drug companies and drug plan (insurance carriers) wanted this large government give away enacted. The tale is in the telling after the first year. Most of you know an older person who may be on one of these Senior Drug plans so ask them what their drugs are costing now in comparison to what they cost 5 years ago, or even last year for that matter.
So all of the above said, please check out this article. It isn't that long and it is an eye opener for those of you who have been advocating for a universal health care system. They are all good systems in their way and some are admittedly superior to ours. The question however ifs the one I already posed: will the medical industry allow such a controlled /regulated system in the United States. And if it is not regulated then all you have to do is check out the fiasco's of Medicare and the Senior Drug Plan. BB
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