IT'S NOT ABOUT HEALTH:

Spending More Doesn't Make Us Healthier (EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL, 10/27/11, NY Times)

The truth is, the United States is not getting 20, 30, much less 40 percent better health care or results than other countries. While there are peaks of greatness, especially at some of America's leading academic health centers and in integrated health care plans, the quality is uneven. And quality is a problem that affects all of us, rich and poor. Almost no matter how we measure it -- whether by life expectancy or by survival for specific diseases like asthma, heart disease or some cancers; by the rate of medical errors; or simply by satisfaction with health services -- the United States is actually doing worse than a number of countries, like France and Germany, that spend considerably less.

Even if you do not like comparing the United States with Europe, it is widely acknowledged that within the United States there is no clear link between higher spending on health care and longer life, less disability or better quality of life. A 2003 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that Medicare patients who lived in areas with higher health care spending did not get better results. In some cases, more spending even appears to equal poorer health. A 2004 study in Health Affairs found that there was actually worse care in states with higher Medicare spending.

Medicine is just another consumer good. 


Posted by oj at October 27, 2011 2:54 PM
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