The U.S. Health Care System – Values, Priorities, and Rankings

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 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 was not without 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 and above profits.

Below are charts from the World Health Organization ranking health
care systems and
life expectacies from around the World.

The World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems
 was last
produced in 2000, and the WHO no longer produces such
 a ranking table, because
of the complexity of the task.

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth (years)

DEFINITION: Average number of years that a person can expect to live in “full health” by
taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury.