PBS program on healthcare systems.

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

I watched last night on Frontline a fascinating documentary on how other countries manage their healthcare systems.

you can access more about it, including seeing the entire program online,

here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_2_frontlinebrsickaroundtheworld_2008-04-16

Several things jump out from the watching.

1. The US has the most expensive system in the world.

2. Most of the other industrialized democracies acheive results as good as ours or better at about half the cost.

3. Most of them have a mixed public/private system - truly "socialized" systems like the English are rare.

4. Most use some form of private insurance, but the private insurance doen't look much like ours - all the insurance companies are non-profit and in most of the countries examined, they keep their overhead around 5%, which is about a fourth of what it is in the US. And everyone pays the same, regardless of age or health status.

5. None of the systems are perfect. ( I wish he had looked at the French, which I think is likely the best in world)

6. He asked healthcare leaders in each country "How many people in your country go bankrupt from healthcare costs?" He usually got a shocked look in return. The answer was always: "nobody" ( I think it's about 70,000 a year in the US)

It's well worth the time to watch it. regardless of where you fall in the opinion spectrum, you'll learn interesting things, and maybe have your pre-conceptions shaken a bit.

[UKRNinUSA, RN]

I really liked the Taiwanese "smart card" - basically their health care record on a card that could be instantly acessed. I was also impressed by their instant electronic billing/payment system which pays the provider for the services at the time of the visit- administrative costs were at 2% compared with US costs of 22%. A beautiful combo of efficiency/cost control - where do we sign up?

[RN4MERCY]

With all the hype about Homeland Security, can any of our rights and freedoms be assured if we don't have a right to health care?

What about personal security? We should have the personal security knowing that whatever our employment status, age, income, or medical history or condition, we will have health insurance. The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn't have a national health insurance plan that covers everyone.

Remarks on access to healthcare worth noting were made recently by Laurie McFarlane, in a Canadian Medical Journal editorial regarding access to healthcare:

"If access to the health system is not possible, it is illusory to think that rights to life and security are respected. In other words, health care is not some commodity to be bartered on the open market. Rather, it is a precondition of the basic rights guaranteed by the Charter. That being so, it should enjoy the same protection, meaning that it must be provided on an equal and indivisible basis."

:typing

[Ludlow]

With all the hype about Homeland Security, can any of our rights and freedoms be assured if we don't have a right to health care?

What about personal security? We should have the personal security knowing that whatever our employment status, age, income, or medical history or condition, we will have health insurance. The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn't have a national health insurance plan that covers everyone.

Remarks on access to healthcare worth noting were made recently by Laurie McFarlane, in a Canadian Medical Journal editorial regarding access to healthcare:

"If access to the health system is not possible, it is illusory to think that rights to life and security are respected. In other words, health care is not some commodity to be bartered on the open market. Rather, it is a precondition of the basic rights guaranteed by the Charter. That being so, it should enjoy the same protection, meaning that it must be provided on an equal and indivisible basis."

:typing

I'd love it if we could get away from thinking we need health insurance. What we need is universal health CARE. Insurance just gets us side-tracted.

Oh to be like the rest of the civilized world.

Single-Payer universal health care. That's what we need and that's what is encapsulated in California's SB840 and nationwide HR676.

[RN4MERCY]

I'd love it if we could get away from thinking we need health insurance. What we need is universal health CARE. Insurance just gets us side-tracted.

Oh to be like the rest of the civilized world.

Single-Payer universal health care. That's what we need and that's what is encapsulated in California's SB840 and nationwide HR676.

I really prefer the term national health service. I should've qualified what I meant and used the term, "social insurance," that guarantees the right to care based on medical need. You're right of course, the term insurance is used to obfuscate the issue by the industry and they conspicuously avoid terms like, "healthcare for all" and "universal medical care". OneCareNow and HealthCareForAll websites also use the same (admittedly confusing) terms interchangeably. Insurance is supposed to be a means of guaranteeing protection or safety. Insurance sold as a commodity these days does neither