81–90 of 312 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Europe has better life expectancy, Diet has a lot more to to about that than medical care.
Thats an interesting point, but it would be interesting to see it compared by regions. Southern Europe generally eats a lot healthier than Northern Europe.
But that's socialism, and the USA will never tolerate socialism.
But only if it's called socialism. If it can be called something else, then it will be accepted. In my experience, US citizens (not all, obviously; I'm massively generalising) have been conditioned to be against things labelled socialism, but the level of economic and political knowledge amongst the general public is such that if you don't call something socialism, it is judged on its own merits without people realis…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_...
...but maybe that doesn't count as "socialism" because most of the profits ends up in the hands of private companies?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Infant mortality is also 75% higher in the US compared to France: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...
Most of the difference between US and other OECD countries in infant mortality is that the US has a much lower standard for what's considered a viable birth. Basically, lots of what in France are classified as still births would be infant deaths in the US.
births out of 1000 that are stillbirths:
France 3.87
UK 3.50
USA 2.95
Germany 2.43
Infant Mortality (under 5) per 1000 live births
USA 5.87
UK 4.38
France 4.30
Germany 3.70
Combining the two for a birthed (Still or not) and didn't make it to 5 rate:
USA: 8.8
France: 8.2
UK: 7.9
Germany: 6.1
Obviously the studies aren't matched, but it does suggest that the variance isn't as great as either statistic shows, and there likely is a very strong ranking.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In France you pay 0 % taxes for the first 9.700 € of income, then 14 % for everything up to 26.791 €, then 30 % for everything up to 71.826 €, then 41 % for everything up to 152.108 € and 45 % for everything beyond that [1]. Hence 23 % effective tax rate sounds reasonable for an average income of around 50.000 €. The tax system in many European countries is similar btw, as is the health system. [1] https://fr.wikiped…
You don't live in urban centers like Paris with 50k revenue.
It'll be a long time until the entire USA implements socialised healthcare (if it happens at all...) but are there any individual states which have something resembling a single-payer system, or is this an issue where they all have roughly the same system? Also for some reason this reminded me of a BBC story I read a while back - where "Heavy Legs" is described as a medical condition that only exists in France: http:…
The military health system (for veterans, the VA) mostly have their own facilities, but don't have the best reputation (and have had some scandals recently... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Health_Administration... )
Medicaid (for poor people) is managed at the state level, and is 50% federal funded (and each state has different income limits for who is covered)
All three of the above make up roughly half of all US health care spending. At the state level, some states have additional programs and subsidies, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_care_refo... and Obamacare tried to create something similar for all states with uniform availability and coverages along with subsidies (and penalties for people who voluntarily decline to purchase health insurance).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Afforda...
So yes, it's a complex kinda mess...but there are too many stakeholders in the current system for it to be easily changed.
Just to give a different perspective, I think it's fair to say French people are very worried that healthcare quality is decreasing. I don't know if it's really the case but in any case, the system is far from being perfect. For one thing, some care are very expensive, like dental crowns and implants. In the article, the author says he had to pay 1300 euros for 47 days in the hospital. You're likely to pay more for o…
About the decreasing quality: there is a clear pattern where, you cut financing of public resources and, then, you can show how bad they work and how best a private system would be.
Couldnt the US Gov just use Medicare as a private health insurance option that runs not for profit and offers a lower cost than private insurers? It could then negotiate low rates with pharma companies and hospitals on behalf of its customers and eventually justify tax assistance. That would essentially let the 'free market' stay in effect and be a shortcut past the lobbiests.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Europe has better life expectancy, Diet has a lot more to to about that than medical care.
US has 75% higher infant mortality than France which has a real impact on life expectancy.
Generally if you are well off, the US is a fine place to be. If you are addicted or poor, it's not so great.
I was hospitalised in France last year - and coming from the UK, which has a social healthcare system too, I was likewise blown away by the quality of care. I was staying in a remote house, miles from the nearest village, an hour from the nearest hospital. After about four days of continuous vomiting in 40 degree heat I caved and called a doctor, in the hope of getting a prescription for antiemetics over the phone. I…
> I had a similar experience earlier this year in the U.K., and the contrast was significant - in the U.K. one feels like an irritation and an inconvenience. "Bloody hell, what's a patient doing here? This is a hospital!". I'm 50. I remember what London was like way before Labour first got into power. Lets look at today. Immigration is way out of control. London has probably 10 million people? It's busting at the sea…
I'm not even going to venture to disagree with you, I'll just provide those facts.