The Shame Of American Health Care Why We Don’t Get What We Paid For And How to Fix It

The Problem Is Simply This : The U.S. has a third rate health care system that costs more than any in the world.

We Rank 37 th In Overall Health Care Performance World Health Organization report

Of course if you can pay, you can get the world’s finest health care here in America. We're talking about care for everyday people.

Yes, in the whole world. Some examples: Health Spending per cap. OECD Report, Data, 2004.

A major reason is that private for profit health insurance companies play a far larger role in our system than in any other.

Health Care Expenditure per Capita by Source of Funding in 2004 Adjusted for Differences in Cost of Living Not counting state and local health benefits a b A 2003 b 2002 (Out-of-Pocket) a a $6,102 $3,165$3,158$3,038$3,005$2,876$2,546 $2,461$2,249$2,083 J. Cylus and G. F. Anderson, Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data, 2006 (New York: The Commonwealth Fund, Apr. 2007). Canada France England Netherlands Germany Australia Japan OECD Median N Zealand USA Public Spending Out of PocketPrivate (Insurance)

Private for-profit health insurance is wasteful, inefficient and parasitic.

par·a·site something dependent on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return par·a·site something dependent on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return

PNC Financial Services surveyed 200 hospital and insurance executives: 96% of all claims must be submitted more than once 1 in 5 claims are delayed or denied Insurance companies go back to hospitals at least twice for each claim.

The Duke University Hospital has 900 beds and employs 900 billing clerks. Professor Uwe Reinhardt, Trustee. From PNHP

Profits of the top 12 health insurance and managed care companies, 2006 $13 Billion You have to deny a lot of claims to make that kind of money

Medicare and other public systems around the world have far lower administrative costs than private for-profit insurance companies.

Compare Wellpoint, the largest US health insurance company to the Ontario health system. Comparable in size but look at the difference in employees

Wellpoint and Ontario Million MembersEmployees Woolhandler et al NEJM 2003

Cost of Health Care Administration USA: 31% of all health care expenditures Canada: 16% New England Journal Of Medicine 8/21/2003.Steffie Woolhandler MD, MPH Terry Camphell MHADavid Himmelstein MD.

The Problem Is Private Health Insurance

Private insurance only works if most of the people who buy it never use it. For example, 80% of the people who buy life insurance let it lapse without collecting.

But, everyone needs health care

With what we are already spending, we can have a single payer system far better than Canada’s.

But how will we pay for it?

$6,102 $3,165 $3,158 USA Canada France We have already paid for it twice over! Per capita health care spending

The Polls Show There Is Support

Associated Press/Yahoo Poll Dec. 14 th percent of Americans support extending Medicare to everyone. 54 percent are willing to identify themselves as single- payer supporters.

MEDICARE FOR ALL H.R. 676