Although NYSUT has taken a position supporting Obama, I intend to address only issues of concern to retired teachers. If a candidate is addressing education reform, Social Security, health care (including Medicare) I intend to weigh in. We'll leave the questions of defense spending, gun control, gay marriage and Romney's dressage horse to others.
Romney's overseas trip to England, Israel and Poland contained a couple of health care items. The Olympic opening ceremonies contained an 11-minute tribute to Britain's NHS (National Health Service). The Brits spend about 8% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on health care and --amazingly--they seem to really like it. It's not perfect, but they seem very satisfied with a system that assures everyone of health care with good outcomes and no medical bills or bankruptcies caused by medical bills. Not a single British parent worries about whether their children will receive proper medical attention.
If only the Brits would see the light and adopt our health care system that costs 18% of GDP, produces outcomes worse than most other advanced countries and finds thousands of people traveling hundreds of miles to wait in line at charity clinics, when they can find one. Oh well, too bad for the Brits!
And then there was Israel. Romney praised Israel for spending only 8% of GDP on healthcare while remaining "a pretty healthy nation."
Romney said "When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs."
Perhaps the man is simply irony-deaf. He's praising Israel's health care system that his party would use their "second amendment rights" to insure never could happen in the USA. Let's take a look at Israel's health care system as explained by Sarah Kliff in the Washington Post:
"Romney’s point about Israel’s success in controlling health care costs is spot on: Its health care system has seen health care costs grow much slower than other industrialized nations."
"How it has gotten there, however, may not be to the Republican candidate’s liking: Israel regulates its health care system aggressively, requiring all residents to carry insurance and capping revenue for various parts of the country’s health care system."
"Israel created a national health care system in 1995, largely funded through payroll and general tax revenue. The government provides all citizens with health insurance: They get to pick from one of four competing, nonprofit plans. Those insurance plans have to accept all customers—including people with pre-existing conditions—and provide residents with a broad set of government-mandated benefits."
"Health insurance does not, however, cover every medical service. Dental and vision care, for example, fall outside of the standard government set of benefits. The majority of Israelis—81 percent —purchase a supplemental health insurance plan to “use the private health care system for services that may not be available in through the public system,” according to apaper by Health Affairs."
And now it's time for charts. First, here's Israel's health care spending compared with the other OECD (industrialized) countries.
Where is the USA on this chart? Remember that 18% of GDP that we spend on health care? The OECD average just touched 9%. We're so far off the top of the chart that we'd need to double the height to get to 18%.
Let's look at life expectancy.
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