America's Biggest Competitive Disadvantage: Its Health Care Mess

If a worker in Canada or Europe or Japan has lost his or her job this recession, it's a psychological and financial blow. But if an American worker loses his or her job, the family faces financial ruin if sickness strikes any member because they are without health care coverage. Bridge coverage is available but unaffordable for anyone but the wealthy. Worse yet, if a major illness is diagnosed during unemployment, a worker becomes unemployable, bringing about a life sentence of poverty.

Little wonder, then, that consumer spending has ground to halt in the United States, which makes the economic meltdown that much harder to combat or ever solve. This underscores the fact that universal health care is not just smart and fair social policy; it is also smart economic policy.

But there are many other economic advantages to universal health care, which makes one wonder why the Republicans, conservatives and business interests haven't been pushing for it. Instead, they are gearing up for a battle against President Obama which is, frankly, acting against their own best long-term interests. Here are the economic advantages to decent, universal health care:
1. The U.S. spent 16.2% of its GDP on health care plus up to 3% more on litigation concerning medical bills while other countries spend 10% and nothing on litigation because bills are paid by everyone. This is America's number one competitive disadvantage going forward.
2. People with serious illnesses are uninsurable and are stuck in jobs they cannot leave or remain unemployed because they are unemployable.
3. Tens of millions of uninsured people in the U.S. end up with health problems that become a drain on the society and economy in the long run.
4. Doctor, nursing, hospital and drug costs are out of control in the U.S. because of the profit motive, compared to countries where universal health care provides the basic underpinning. (By the way, in Canada only 50% of total health care expenditures are covered by governments and the rest by individuals such as eyewear, dental or elective surgeries.) U.S. costs are higher because doctors can over-service those with health insurance, and patients can over-demand. Litigation also leads to over-doctoring (too many tests or too many days in hospitals) as well as high expenses in the form of malpractice insurance, an overhead which, in comparison, is negligible in Canada or Europe.
5. Detroit's three automobile companies have gone bust in large measure due to "legacy" or gold-plated health care promises at America's excessive prices that made that were unaffordable. This is not unique to the auto sector and has driven many jobs offshore in manufacturing.

Canada has a better health care system than does America. So do Europe and Japan. Even developing nations, such as Ecuador or Mexico, look after all the basic needs of their populations better than America looks after its hard-working citizens.

As an American living in Canada, I find it embarrassing that America -- rich and smart -- has such a mediocre health care system. I find it embarrassing that even educated and financially astute Americans buy the lies that the AMA and others spew about Canada and other "socialized" medical schemes.

Facts are that governments in the U.S. are suckers. They cover the high-risk populations -- indigent, elderly and veterans -- and leave the gravy to the private-sector health insurers. These companies, by the way, make profits off their operations which are the same size as Canada's entire health care tab for 32 million people.

It's pretty shameful, but delusions persist and the medical myth-makers are girding for battle. But Americans are capable of skepticism and change and deep down most realize that their health care system is sick, maybe terminal, and needs treatment as soon as possible.

Comments

[jpinsatx]

Hmmm... Health Care for All Americans is Simple!

1) Merge Medicare with Medicaide into one single "Income Based" system for elderly and poor citizens.

2) Require insurance companies to provide the same basic coverage for all Non-Medica­re/Medicai­de citizens, regardless of health status, at affordable rates.

3) Allow insurance companies to profit by offering additional benefits and options to those who qualify and are willing to pay the difference.

As for Funding...

1) Changing from an "Emergency Treatment" to a "Preventive Care" system will save local communities billions, maybe even trillions of taxpayer dollars!

2) Small business will be able to compete globally and hire additional taxpaying employees!

3) Wealthy seniors will pay their fair share!

4) The tremendous burden on future generations will be greatly reduced!

[Sinick]

My wife and I were both unceremoniously laid off via email the first working day after the big bank bailout in October (On another note, it seems that everybody forgets about that billion or so that was handed out that day but never accounted for. Silly me, I forgot that it is Obama's fault.). Our former employer promised to pay our Cobra payments but it never happened and the window of opportunity closed. Thanks to Obama, the window opened once again and we were contacted by ADP to sign up for continued coverage at about $450 per month for my wife and I. Thankfully, no money was required up front. We filled out the paperwork about 6 weeks ago and haven't heard a peep since.

Herein lies the root of the problem. No money up front for ADP, no action. Plus, I get the feeling that they didn't want to be in the "health care" business in the first place and feel cajoled by Obama into reluctantly doing so.

BTW, what is ADP doing in the health care business anyway? How did ADP show up as my employer on my W2? The company that we both worked for was owned by Gladstone Capitol who subsequently attempted to get TARP money. Banker/insider smoke and mirrors, that's how.

[FullChat]

Our healthcare system puts us at a competitive disadvantage when compared to countries with universal care.

In the US, most companies provide medical insurance or help pay for it. These costs are added to the costs of creating things for sale, where it is not in countries with universal care. Think GM Toyota doesn't pay for healthcare, but GM does. US companies charge higher prices than those in other countries because they pay for some healthcare - and most foreign companies don't.

And insurance companies eat $400B a year.

Medicare for All, PLEASE.

[PlaceboStudman]

see, I think America's biggest competitive disadvantage is our inability to face reality, especially when it comes to health care reform. For one thing, no one is talking about health care, they are talking about insurance. Money, not medicine. And so long as people talk about money instead of medicine, people are completely missing the point of health care. We are, in essence, blaming VISA for the fact that our CD we bought from amazon arrived broken, without taking even a cursory glance at whether Amazon is responsible, UPS is responsible, or maybe even the CD manufacturer is responsible for our broken CD.

In the same way, we are blaming insurance for the fact that BigPharma gives us substandard drugs, we are blaming insurance for the fact that the FDA gives us substandard drugs, we are blaming insurance for the fact that doctors only have substandard drugs to give to their patients, when insurance can only give us what the FDA gives insurance.

are there problems with the insurance companies, and they need to be reformed? Of course. But those reforms have NOTHING to do with health care, only the cost and availability of health care, and you can't blame VISA for you going over your limit when you buy a new car, house or boat, then wake up one morning and say "Oh, crap, In can't pay for my thumb I just hit with a hammer"