April 22, 2005
AN ACORN?:
Passing the Buck (PAUL KRUGMAN, 4/22/05, NY Times)
[M]uch of our health care spending is devoted to passing the buck: trying to get someone else to pay the bills.
Hey, even Paul Krugman can figure out why we need universal Health Savings Accounts. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 22, 2005 10:40 AM
Liability/malapractice insurance, anyone?
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at April 22, 2005 11:20 AMActually, I think his information is wrong.
I've read about a recent study in the U.K. that compared life expectancy for patients in the U.K. vs. those in the U.S. for a whole range of illnesses, such as colon cancer, prostate cancer, congestive heart failure, etc. The study showed that in every case a patient's chance for long-term survival was MUCH greater in the U.S. than in the U.K. Among the reasons for these discrepancies were the long waits for diagnostic tests, waits for surgeries, the use of out-dated equipment, waits for appointments with specialists, etc. Nationalized health care is deadly.
Also, I have read that the difference in infant mortality rates has to do with how infant deaths are counted. In Europe, they do not count certain premie deaths and we do, among other things. So the figures are not really comparing apples to apples.