Posted by
Doc Carlos on Friday, August 31, 2007 12:49:53 AM
Of the many articles about the movie Sicko, by Micheal Moore, below is the best one I have read. It talks about the disadvantages and advantages of the US healthcare system. It makes good points about the cancer rates between US and other Eurpean countires. Also he discusses the infant mortality rate and few opinion polls on healthcare beliefs.
by Carlos Herrera MD, MPH
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 3:30 PM
http://abducens.townhall.com/
Sick, Sicker, and Sicko
A case where the cure may be worse than the disease
author: Dr. EdLocation: Newport Beach, CAhere are a few excerpts:
Sicko does not mention that IMR is measured differently here than in many other countries. The U.S. includes many infant births in our IMR calculation that other countries do not, thereby appearing to have a much higher rate of infant mortality. Some European countries have certain age (minimum 26 weeks) and size limits (12 inches or 1000 grams) under which the baby is excluded from IMR statistics. IMR data from third world countries like Cuba are likely underreported as most births occur outside of the hospital.
Mr. Moore notes that Americans pay more for health care but have a shorter life expectancy than in some socialized systems. But are measures of IMR and life expectancy really an accurate reflection of a country’s medical system? Don’t they really have a lot more to do with sociology than medical care? Americans happen to have more car accidents, murder each other more often, and many of them look like, well, Mr. Moore. The latter risk diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
Americans’ perception of the health care system
How do Americans themselves feel about their health care? If you ask them how they feel about the quality and cost of health care, thinking about the country as a whole, 54% are dissatisfied with the quality and 80% are dissatisfied with the cost according to a 2006 ABC News / Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
But if you ask how satisfied Americans are with the care they receive themselves and their own health care costs, 89% are satisfied with the quality and 57% are satisfied with the cost.