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Old 11-18-2010, 03:46 PM
pkell pkell is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Posts: 201
15 yr Member
pkell pkell is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Posts: 201
15 yr Member
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I think it is importand to judge exactly how much bang for our current buck we are getting before we decided where we stand.

1. The US spends 14.6% of GDP on health care, with Germany at 10.9%, Canada 9.6%, Australia 9.5%, France and the UK 7.7%.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/he...xpenditure-gdp

2.Life expectancy in the US is 78.2 years ranking us 38th. Australia is 5th at 81.1 years, France is 10th at 80.7, Canada 11th at 80.7, and the UK and Germany 20th at 79.4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy

3. Infant mortality rates for the US are 6.3 per 1000 live births ranking us 33rd. France 12th at 4.2, Germany 14th at 4.2, Australia 17th at 4.4, the UK 22nd at 4.8 and Canada 23rd at 4.8.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...mortality_rate

The above countries are often held up to us as examples of what we do not want to be. It is estimated that 15% of our population is uninsured and an additional 35% is underinsured and yet we spend more per person on health care than any other country in the world.
Still we insist we have the best health care in the world. Not according to the above and probably not at all. Before we turn thumbs down on a new system maybe we should look very closely at whether or not we're getting our money's worth to make sure we are voting against our own best interests. Isn't it possible there is a better way?

http://www.truth-out.org/article/the...t-medical-care

Last edited by pkell; 11-18-2010 at 03:50 PM. Reason: typo
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tulip girl (11-18-2010)