That's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. If we can get future medical costs under control, that alone takes care of most of our problem. "Here it comes," I can hear you saying. "Here comes the pitch for socialized medicine." If that's what you think, you'll be disappointed.
As the late Senator Moynihan used to say, "Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts." So, let's look at some facts:
1) When you look at healthcare in all of the wealthy, industrialized economies of the world, the measurable outcomes of our healthcare system put us nowhere near the best in the world. (I know, that sounds like an opinion, but I will back it up with hard facts when I put this item up on the RC4 website.) Why, then do rich folks from other countries come here for care when they get sick? I promise to answer that, but not just yet.
2) On a per capita basis, we spend twice as much on healthcare as other countries. (Again, I'm prepared to back this up, but I don't want to weigh you down with tables and charts here.)
Just based on these two facts, I would argue that we have something to learn from other industrialized nations about the economics of healthcare. And here's where most Americans stick their fingers in their ears and yell, "Nah, Nah, Nah I can't hear you...We're number one!...High taxes...Government control...Socialized medicine...Not gonna happen here!"
Based on our federal budget situation, that could well be the most expensive opinion ever, and I'm willing to bet that it is also the most ignorant!
Here's an interesting experiment. Pick an American at random, you might even try this with yourself, and ask them a simple question: "Briefly, tell me how healthcare is financed in Germany." I'll bet that they won't have any idea. If they even attempt to answer, it will probably be something like, "high taxes, lots of government control, socialized medicine." Try France instead of Germany, or Spain, Italy, Japan, India. Unless you ask about Canada or England (the countries we tend to be most familiar with), or if the person you asked happened to live in that country for a while, I predict you'll get the same result: blank stare or "socialized medicine."
Here's where it gets interesting. Let's do a short quiz. Everybody like these when they find them in magazines, and this one could eventually save you--and your kids and grandkids--lots of money.
According to the folks who deal in the economics of healthcare, there are only four basic methods countries use to finance medical costs. The healthcare experts give them names, but the names will make the quiz too easy, so I'll just identify them by numbers. Here they are:
Method 1 - In countries that follow this model, both healthcare providers and payers are private entities. The model uses private health insurance plans, usually financed jointly by employers and employees through payroll deduction. Your doctor's office is a private business, and many hospitals are privately owned.
Method 2 - In this system, healthcare is provided and financed by the government through tax payments. There are no medical bills; rather, medical treatment is a public service, like the fire department or public library. Many (sometimes all) hospitals and clinics are owned by the government; some doctors are government employees, but there are also private doctors who collect their fees from the government.
Method 3 - The providers of healthcare are private, but the payer is a government-run insurance program that every citizen pays into. The national, or provincial, insurance plan collects monthly premiums and pays medical bills.
Method 4 - Most medical care is paid for by the patient, out of pocket, with no insurance or government plan to help.
OK, here's the quiz. Match the following countries with the method of financing healthcare: England, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, India, Cuba, Japan, most of Latin America, most of Scandanavia, Spain, Hong Kong, USA, Taiwan, South Korea, Cambodia.
Have fun with the quiz. I'll send you the answers tomorrow, along with some additional interesting information.
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