The numbers don't lie: Why we need a public health care option

A recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows just how bad American health care is compared to other developed countries. 

Consider, for example, the data on health insurance coverage on page 32 of this section of the OECD report:

• The United States ranks ahead of only Mexico and Turkey in the percentage of people covered --85%.

• The remaining 27 countries cover 100% --or nearly 100%-- of their citizens with publicly paid-for health care.  (In Germany, 10% are covered privately.)

• Only 27% of Americans have public health insurance, probably Medicare or Medicaid, while 57% are covered with private plans.  That leaves roughly 15% of the populace with no health insurance at all.  

According to the report, the numbers of uninsured vary by income and age:

"Data from the US National Health Interview Survey indicate that about 30% of persons aged less than 65 years who are deemed poor or near-poor do not have health insurance  compared to 10–15% of middle income and 5% of high income persons."

For that, Americans spend far more money on health care as a percentage of GDP than any other developed country.  That's why we need the public insurance option on the table in discussions of American health care reform.

Here's a good summary of some of the quality of life rankings from the OECD report, courtesy of our diligent (and progressive) friends at A Tiny Revolution:

US rankings out of the 30 OECD countries (1 is best; 30 is worst -- worst as in Somalia-like). The names of the countries even more Somalian than the US appear in parentheses.

Infant Deaths: 28 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey).

Life Expectancy: 24 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Czech & Slovak Republics).

Health Expenditures: 1 out of 30.

Poverty Rates: 28 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey).

Child Poverty: 27 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey, Poland).

Income Inequality: 27 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey, Portugal).

Obesity: 30 out of 30.

Incarceration: 30 out of 30.

Work Hours (ranked in ascending order): 30 out of 30.

Height (women): 25 out of 30 (Mexico, Turkey, Korea, Portugal, Japan).

Height (men): 24 out of 30 (Italy, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Korea, Japan).

Comments

[Marian]

Thanks, Terry. This is good info. I'll pass it along. I think the momentum for single payer is growing.

[Terry]

Let's hope so. But never underestimate the influence of the health care industry's money on unprincipled federal legislators.

[Harry Kershner]

"Public healthcare OPTION" is an "option" being fought by progressives with PNHP and others:

Public Plan Option in a Market of Private Plans
By David Himmelstein, M.D. and Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H.:

The "public plan option" won't work to fix the health care system for two reasons.

1. It forgoes at least 84 percent of the administrative savings available through single payer. The public plan option would do nothing to streamline the administrative tasks (and costs) of hospitals, physicians offices, and nursing homes, which would still contend with multiple payers, and hence still need the complex cost tracking and billing apparatus that drives administrative costs. These unnecessary provider administrative costs account for the vast majority of bureaucratic waste. Hence, even if 95 percent of Americans who are currently privately insured were to join the public plan (and it had overhead costs at current Medicare levels), the savings on insurance overhead would amount to only 16 percent of the roughly $400 billion annually achievable through single payer -- not enough to make reform affordable.

2. A quarter century of experience with public/private competition in the Medicare program demonstrates that the private plans will not allow a level playing field. Despite strict regulation, private insurers have successfully cherry picked healthier seniors, and have exploited regional health spending differences to their advantage. They have progressively undermined the public plan -- which started as the single payer for seniors and has now become a funding mechanism for HMOs -- and a place to dump the unprofitably ill. A public plan option does not lead toward single payer, but toward the segregation of patients, with profitable ones in private plans and unprofitable ones in the public plan.

www.pnhp.org

[FDR]

The numbers don't lie. Wait, what numbers? What in the world is poverty rate doing in a health care study? How does our having higher child poverty relate to our not having single payer? Why is that thrown in there? Oh I guess it makes the US look bad, maybe that's why.

Hmmm.... Obesity? Ok, well, that makes sense, single payer health care would definitely end obesity.

Income inequality Yep, single payer health care would definitely solve that.

Incarceration rate? Ok, now I can really see how if we had less people in prison we would have better health care. Oh wait, people in prison already are part of the government health care system so I guess the higher incarceration rate makes us look good? What the hell is incarceration rate doing in a health care study if not to be just simply another way to make America look bad?

OK - Work hours. Now that one is great. Single payer would definitely mean everyone gets to work less.

Given the figures listed, and there relation not to the issue at hand, but rather clearly just to make the US look bad, one has to wonder why they are included here. This is kind of a load.

[Terry]

What numbers? The numbers on the type and extent of health care coverage, FDR.

The list that follows was clearly labeled "some of the quality of life rankings." Of those, six of the eleven had to do, in some manner, with health care.

[replica handbsgs]

I do appreciate that youve added relevant and intelligent commentary here though. Thank you!

[Minimalist Shoes]

Thank you a great read I will certainly be back to study future updates. It must take you a lot of time to produce this site. I must confess I have not had any business cards for 15 years

[Proactol]

More recently Proactol Plus made a decision to take yet another independent product test. Nobody from Proactol PLUS held any connection with the individuals completing this trial.

[Ugg Boots Outlet]

I really enjoyed the guidance shown and it has offered me some sort of encouragement to be successful for some explanation, so thanks!

[women's lacoste shoes]

More recently Proactol Plus made a decision to take yet another independent product test. Nobody from Proactol PLUS held any connection with the individuals completing this trial.

[cheap ugg boots uk]

These news are close to the standard, thanks for sharing this