Article: The U.S. Health Care System-Values and Priorities

The current battles over American health care system are indicative of
a wider philosophical and social divide. What is at stake and what is
the desired outcome of each side? First we must look at the current
health care system as it exists in the United States. The World Health
Organization ranks the U.S. health care system well below most of
Europe, Canada and Japan. France and Italy rank at number one and two
while the U.S. is at #37. Most of the countries that rank above the
U.S. have some form of socialized health care system. Japan, which
ranks 10th on the WHO list, is at #1 in life expectancy at 74.5 years
while the U.S. is 24th in life expectancy, again below Europe, Canada
and Australia as well. An oft repeated declaration is that the U.S. has
the best health care in the World, also that people from all over the
World come to the U.S. for health care, such as the King of Jordan who
went to Mayo Clinic recently for surgery. This happens, if they can
afford to do so. U.S. citizens do the same, Richard DeVos, co-founder
of AMWAY and a staunch Republican went to England for a heart
transplant and talk show host Charlie Rose went to France for heart
surgery. These options of course do not exist for most Americans.
>
The disruptions and shows of "righteous indignation" at town hall
meetings need a closer look. News reports indicate that those
disrupting the town halls of specific Democratic Congress men and women
were largely staged by combination's of HMO employees bussed to the
town halls for the purpose of disruption and distortion and "FOX NEWS"
zealots who believe capitalism and business interests should come
before people's health. Misinformation and lies about Obama's health
care plans swayed a lot of opinion polls as well as a lack of knowlege
about the benefits of Universal health care. The Rights repeatedly
comparing Obama's proposed changes as comparable to Nazism was
especially ridiculous. The Nazi comparisons are generally a bad idea
for public discourse but there is an area that somewhat fits. During
the Nazi era particular businesses were given greater privilege and
leeway over the well being of people and their rights, the most well
known of these were I.G. Farben and Krupp. It was a clear cut idea and
system where profit (and of course power) took precedence over people.
Like a boomerang the Nazi comparison idea...well you get the idea.
>
In a recent interview with Dr James Jackson, a well known Muskegon
physician and community activist Dr Jackson stated that the problem in
America's health care is that "it is based on capitalism, it puts
people second and money fist". When asked if HMOs had a legitimate
place in American health care he said "absolutely not". About Obama's
health care ideas Dr Jackson said it has some problems, he said "if it
does not include single payer it will continue the same problems that
we currently have".
> In the ongoing battle for truth, justice and values people should always be valued BEFORE ang ABOVE profits.
>
>
> Below are charts from the World Health Organization ranking health care systems and life expectacies from around the World.
>
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>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> The World Health Organization's ranking
>> of the world's health
>> systems.
>>
>> Source: WHO World Health Report - See also Spreadsheet Details (731kb)
>>
>> The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems
>> was last produced in 2000, and the WHO no longer produces such aranking table, because of the complexity of the task.
>>
>> Rank
Country
>>
>> 1 France
>> 2 Italy
>> 3 San Marino
>> 4 Andorra
>> 5 Malta
>> 6 Singapore
>> 7 Spain
>> 8 Oman
>> 9 Austria
>> 10 Japan
>> 11 Norway
>> 12 Portugal
>> 13 Monaco
>> 14 Greece
>> 15 Iceland
>> 16 Luxembourg
>> 17 Netherlands
>> 18 United Kingdom
>> 19 Ireland
>> 20 Switzerland
>> 21 Belgium
>> 22 Colombia
>> 23 Sweden
>> 24 Cyprus
>> 25 Germany
>> 26 Saudi Arabia
>> 27 United Arab Emirates
>> 28 Israel
>> 29 Morocco
>> 30 Canada
>> 31 Finland
>> 32 Australia
>> 33 Chile
>> 34 Denmark
>> 35 Dominica
>> 36 Costa Rica
>> 37 United States of America
>> 38 Slovenia
>> 39 Cuba
>> 40
Brunei
>> 41 New Zealand
>> 42 Bahrain
>> 43 Croatia
>> 44 Qatar
>> 45 Kuwait
>> 46 Barbados
>> 47 Thailand
>> 48 Czech Republic
>> 49 Malaysia
>> 50 Poland
>> 51 Dominican Republic
>> 52 Tunisia
>> 53 Jamaica
>> 54 Venezuela
>> 55 Albania
>> 56 Seychelles
>> 57 Paraguay
>> 58 South Korea
>> 59 Senegal
>> 60 Philippines
>> 61 Mexico
>> 62 Slovakia
>> 63 Egypt
>> 64 Kazakhstan
>> 65 Uruguay
>> 66 Hungary
>> 67 Trinidad and Tobago
>> 68 Saint Lucia
>> 69 Belize
>> 70 Turkey
>> 71 Nicaragua
>> 72 Belarus
>> 73 Lithuania
>> 74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
>> 75 Argentina
>> 76 Sri Lanka
>> 77 Estonia
>> 78
Guatemala
>> 79 Ukraine
>> 80 Solomon Islands
>> 81 Algeria
>> 82 Palau
>> 83 Jordan
>> 84 Mauritius
>> 85 Grenada
>> 86 Antigua and Barbuda
>> 87 Libya
>> 88 Bangladesh
>> 89 Macedonia
>> 90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
>> 91 Lebanon
>> 92 Indonesia
>> 93 Iran
>> 94 Bahamas
>> 95 Panama
>> 96 Fiji
>> 97 Benin
>> 98 Nauru
>> 99 Romania
>> 100 Saint Kitts and Nevis
>> 101 Moldova
>> 102 Bulgaria
>> 103 Iraq
>> 104 Armenia
>> 105 Latvia
>> 106 Yugoslavia
>> 107 Cook Islands
>> 108 Syria
>> 109 Azerbaijan
>> 110 Suriname
>> 111 Ecuador
>> 112 India
>> 113 Cape Verde
>> 114 Georgia
>> 115 El Salvador
>> 116 Tonga
>> 117
Uzbekistan
>> 118 Comoros
>> 119 Samoa
>> 120 Yemen
>> 121 Niue
>> 122 Pakistan
>> 123 Micronesia
>> 124 Bhutan
>> 125 Brazil
>> 126 Bolivia
>> 127 Vanuatu
>> 128 Guyana
>> 129 Peru
>> 130 Russia
>> 131 Honduras
>> 132 Burkina Faso
>> 133 Sao Tome and Principe
>> 134 Sudan
>> 135 Ghana
>> 136 Tuvalu
>> 137 Ivory Coast
>> 138 Haiti
>> 139 Gabon
>> 140 Kenya
>> 141 Marshall Islands
>> 142 Kiribati
>> 143 Burundi
>> 144 China
>> 145 Mongolia
>> 146 Gambia
>> 147 Maldives
>> 148 Papua New Guinea
>> 149 Uganda
>> 150 Nepal
>> 151 Kyrgystan
>> 152 Togo
>> 153 Turkmenistan
>> 154 Tajikistan
>> 155 Zimbabwe
>> 156
Tanzania
>> 157 Djibouti
>> 158 Eritrea
>> 159 Madagascar
>> 160 Vietnam
>> 161 Guinea
>> 162 Mauritania
>> 163 Mali
>> 164 Cameroon
>> 165 Laos
>> 166 Congo
>> 167 North Korea
>> 168 Namibia
>> 169 Botswana
>> 170 Niger
>> 171 Equatorial Guinea
>> 172 Rwanda
>> 173 Afghanistan
>> 174 Cambodia
>> 175 South Africa
>> 176 Guinea-Bissau
>> 177 Swaziland
>> 178 Chad
>> 179 Somalia
>> 180 Ethiopia
>> 181 Angola
>> 182 Zambia
>> 183 Lesotho
>> 184 Mozambique
>> 185 Malawi
>> 186 Liberia
>> 187 Nigeria
>> 188 Democratic Republic of the Congo
>> 189 Central African Republic
>> 190 Myanmar
>>
>> HEALTHY LIFE EXPECTANCY (HALE)Health attainment,
level and distribution in all Member States
>> Estimates for 1997 and 1999 By the World Health Organization
>> Disability-adjusted life expectancy at birth (years) (*See explanation below the table)
>>
>> Total
>> Rank Member State Population Males Females
>>
>> 1 Japan 74.5 71.9 77.2
>> 2 Australia 73.2 70.8 75.5
>> 3 France 73.1 69.3 76.9
>> 4 Sweden 73.0 71.2 74.9
>> 5 Spain 72.8 69.8 75.7
>> 6 Italy 72.7 70.0 75.4
>> 7 Greece 72.5 70.5 74.6
>> 8 Switzerland 72.5 69..5 75.5
>> 9 Monaco 72.4 68.5 76.3
>> 10 Andorra 72.3 69.3 75.2
>> 11 San Marino 72.3 69.5 75.0
>> 12 Canada 72.0 70.0 74.0
>> 13 Netherlands 72.0 69.6 74.4
>> 14 United Kingdom 71.7 69.7 73.7
>> 15 Norway 71.7 68.8 74.6
>> 16 Belgium 71.6 68.7 74.6
>> 17 Austria 71.6 68.8
74.4
>> 18 Luxembourg 71.1 68.0 74.2
>> 19 Iceland 70.8 69.2 72.3
>> 20 Finland 70.5 67.2 73.7
>> 21 Malta 70.5 68.4 72.5
>> 22 Germany 70.4 67.4 73.5
>> 23 Israel 70.4 69.2 71.6
>> 24 United States 70.0 67.5 72.6
>> 25 Cyprus 69.8 68.7 70.9
>> 26 Dominica 69.8 67.2 72.3
>> 27 Ireland 69.6 67.5 71.7
>> 28 Denmark 69.4 67.2 71.5
>> 29 Portugal 69.3 65.9 72.7
>> 30 Singapore 69.3 67.4 71.2
>> 31 New Zealand 69.2 67.1 71.2
>> 32 Chile 68.6 66.0 71.3
>> 33 Cuba 68.4 67.4 69.4
>> 34 Slovenia 68.4 64.9 71.9
>> 35 Czech Republic 68.0 65.2 70.8
>> 36 Jamaica 67.3 66.8 67.9
>> 37 Uruguay 67.0 64.1 69.9
>> 38 Croatia 67.0 63.3 70.6
>> 39 Argentina 66.7 63.8 69.6
>> 40 Costa Rica 66.7 65.2 68.1
>> 41 Armenia 66.7 65.0 68.3
>> 42 Slovakia 66.6
63.5 69.7
>> 43 Saint Vincent
>> and the Grenadines 66.4 65.0 67.8
>> 44 Georgia 66.3 63.1 69.4
>> 45 Poland 66.2 62.3 70.1
>> 46 Yugoslavia 66.1 64.2 68.1
>> 47 Panama 66.0 64.9 67.2
>> 48 Antigua+Barbuda 65.8 63.4 68.3
>> 49 Grenada 65.5 62.4 68.5
>> 50 U. A. Emirates 65.4 65.0 65.8
>> 51 North Korea 65.1 51.4 53.1
>> 52 Venezuela 65.0 62.9 67.1
>> 53 Barbados 65.0 62.4 67.6
>> 54 Saint Lucia 65.0 62.4 67.6
>> 55 Mexico 65.0 62.4 67.6
>> 56 Bosnia Herzegovina 64.9 63.4 66.4
>> 57 Trinidad+Tobago 64.6 62.8 66.4
>> 58 Saudi Arabia 64.5 65.1 64.0
>> 59 Brunei 64.4 63.4 65.4
>> 60 Bulgaria 64.4 61.2 67.7
>> 61 Bahrain 64.4 63.9 64.9
>> 62 Hungary 64.1 60.4 67.9
>> 63 Lithuania 64.1 60.6 67.5
>> 64 FYRO Macedonia 63.7 61.8 65.6
>> 65 Azerbaijan
63.7 60.6 66.7
>> 66 Qatar 63.5 64.2 62.8
>> 67 Cook Islands 63.4 62.2 64.5
>> 68 Kuwait 63.2 63.0 63.4
>> 69 Estonia 63.1 58.1 68.1
>> 70 Ukraine 63.0 58.5 67.5
>> 71 Paraguay 63.0 60.7 65.3
>> 72 Oman 63.0 61.8 64.1
>> 73 Turkey 62.9 64.0 61.8
>> 74 Colombia 62.9 60.3 65.5
>> 75 Tonga 62.9 61.4 64.3
>> 76 Sri Lanka 62.8 59.3 66.3
>> 77 Suriname 62.7 60.2 65.2
>> 78 Mauritius 62.7 59.0 66.3
>> 79 Dominican Republic 62.5 62.1 62.9
>> 80 Romania 62.3 58.8 65.8
>> 81 S. Korea 62.3 59.9 64.7
>> 82 China 62.3 61.2 63.3
>> 83 Latvia 62.2 57.1 67.2
>> 84 Belarus 61.7 56.2 67.2
>> 85 Algeria 61.6 62.5 60.7
>> 86 Niue 61.6 61.0 62.2
>> 87 St. Kitts and Nevis 61.6 58.7 64.4
>> 88 El Salvador 61.5 58.6 64.5
>> 89 Moldova 61.5 58.5 64.5
>> 90
Malaysia 61.4 61.3 61.6
>> 91 Tunisia 61.4 62.0 60.7
>> 92 Russian Federation 61.3 56.1 66.4
>> 93 Honduras 61.1 60.0 62.3
>> 94 Ecuador 61.0 59.9 62.1
>> 95 Belize 60.9 58.5 63.3
>> 96 Lebanon 60.6 61.2 60.1
>> 97 Iran 60.5 61.3 59.8
>> 98 Samoa 60.5 58.7 62.3
>> 99 Guyana 60.2 57.1 63.3
>> 100 Thailand 60.2 58.4 62.1
>> 101 Uzbekistan 60.2 58.0 62.3
>> 102 Jordan 60.0 60.7 59.3
>> 103 Albania 60.0 56.5 63.4
>> 104 Indonesia 59.7 58.8 60.6
>> 105 Micronesia 59.6 58.7 60.6
>> 106 Peru 59.4 58.0 60.8
>> 107 Fiji 59.4 57.7 61.1
>> 108 Libya 59.3 59.7 58.9
>> 109 Seychelles 59.3 56.4 62.1
>> 110 Bahamas 59.1 56.7 61.6
>> 111 Morocco 59.1 58.7 59.4
>> 112 Brazil 59.1 55.2 62.9
>> 113 Palau 59.0 57.4 60.7
>> 114 Philippines 58.9 57.1
60.7
>> 115 Syria 58.8 58.8 58.9
>> 116 Egypt 58.5 58.6 58.3
>> 117 Viet Nam 58.2 56.7 59.6
>> 118 Nicaragua 58.1 56.4 59.9
>> 119 Cape Verde 57.6 54.6 60.6
>> 120 Tuvalu 57.4 57.1 57.6
>> 121 Tajikistan 57.3 55.1 59.4
>> 122 Marshall Islands 56.8 56.0 57.6
>> 123 Kazakhstan 56.4 51.5 61.2
>> 124 Kyrgyzstan 56.3 53.4 59.1
>> 125 Pakistan 55.9 55.0 56.8
>> 126 Kiribati 55.3 53.9 56.6
>> 127 Iraq 55.3 55.4 55.1
>> 128 Solomon Islands 54.9 54.5 55.3
>> 129 Turkmenistan 54.3 51.9 56.7
>> 130 Guatemala 54.3 52.1 56.4
>> 131 Maldives 53.9 54.4 53.3
>> 132 Mongolia 53.8 51.3 56.3
>> 133 Sao Tome Princi 53.5 52.1 54.8
>> 134 Bolivia 53.3 52.5 54.1
>> 135 India 53.2 52.8 53.5
>> 136 Vanuatu 52.8 51.3 54.4
>> 137 Nauru 52.5 49.8 55.1
>> 138 Bhutan
51.8 51.4 52.2
>> 139 Myanmar 51.6 51.4 51.9
>> 140 Bangladesh 49.9 50.1 49.8
>> 141 Yemen 49.7 49.7 49.7
>> 142 Nepal 49.5 49.4 49.5
>> 143 Gambia 48.3 47.2 49.4
>> 144 Gabon 47.8 46.6 49.0
>> 145 Papua New Guin. 47.0 45.5 48.5
>> 146 Comoros 46.8 46.1 47.5
>> 147 Lao 46.1 45.0 47.1
>> 148 Cambodia 45.7 43.9 47.5
>> 149 Ghana 45.5 45.0 46.0
>> 150 Congo 45.1 44.3 45.9
>> 151 Senegal 44.6 43.5 45.6
>> 152 Equatorial Guinea 44.1 42.8 45.4
>> 153 Haiti 43.8 42.4 45.2
>> 154 Sudan 43.0 42.6 43.5
>> 155 CÃ �te d'Ivoire 42.8 42.2 43.3
>> 156 Cameroon 42.2 41.5 43.0
>> 157 Benin 44.2 41.9 42.6
>> 158 Mauritania 41.4 40.2 42.5
>> 159 Togo 40.7 40.0 41.4
>> 160 South Africa 39.8 38.6 41.0
>> 161 Chad 39.4 38.6 40.2
>> 162 Kenya 39.3 39.0
39.6
>> 163 Nigeria 38.3 38.1 38.4
>> 164 Swaziland 38.1 37.8 38.4
>> 165 Angola 38.0 37.0 38.9
>> 166 Djibouti 37.9 37.7 38.1
>> 167 Guinea 37.8 37.0 38.5
>> 168 Afghanistan 37.7 36.7 38.7
>> 169 Eritrea 37.7 38.5 36.9
>> 170 Guinea-Bissau 37.2 36.8 37.5
>> 171 Lesotho 36.9 36.6 37.2
>> 172 Madagascar 36.6 36.5 36.8
>> 173 Somalia 36.4 35.9 36.9
>> 174 Dem. Rep. Congo 36.3 36.4 36.2
>> 175 Ctral African Rep 36.0 35.6 36.5
>> 176 Tanzania 36.0 35.9 36.1
>> 177 Namibia 35.6 35.8 35.4
>> 178 Burkina Faso 35.5 35.3 35.7
>> 179 Burundi 34.6 34.6 34.6
>> 180 Mozambique 34.4 33.7 35.1
>> 181 Liberia 34.0 33.8 34.2
>> 182 Ethiopia 33.5 33.5 33..5
>> 183 Mali 33.1 32.6 33.5
>> 184 Zimbabwe 32.9 33.4 32.4
>> 185 Rwanda 32.8 32.9 32.7
>> 186 Uganda
32.7 32.9 32.5
>> 187 Botswana 32.3 32.3 32.2
>> 188 Zambia 30.3 30.0 30.7
>> 189 Malawi 29.4 29.3 29.4
>> 190 Niger 29.1 28.1 30.1
>> 191 Sierra Leone 25.9 25.8