Where DO people get the idea that the United States has the finest health care in the world?

Question

That's not true, even if you can afford it----which many millions cannot.

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html


There's your link--all ye unbelievers......

Answer 1

The figures speak for themselves and all one has to do is go to the links provided by truthseeker(top contributor) up above me to see for himself.

Our problem is that because we are the richest and the most powerful nation in the wolrd today,we erroneously assume that we will also top the lists in everything:education,health,legal system,etc etc and the truth is that we do not.

While first class educational,health and legal opportunities ARE available in our country and are among the best in the world,they have to be paid for and they do not come cheap!!!

While it is true that in the U.S. there are more wealthy,well to do people per capita than anywhere else in the world-thus a lot of peole DO have access to first class healthcare,education,lawyers,etc etc- ,that still leaves hundreds of millions of people who do not.

Medicine today is not an esoteric science and breakthroughs are being made in many countries and top rate state of the art medical technology is available in all of these countries,not only in the U.S.

Those foreigners who come to our country for health reasons are,sadly, very often desperate terminally ill people who will try anything
(if they can afford it). What usually happens to them is that they end up dying anyway in Houston or New York or Baltimore instead of in their hometown - Rome or Madrid or Lyon- and their bank accounts are considerably decreased and the private U.S. hospitals considerably richer. The exact same medical procedures in the U.S. cost twice or three times as much as they do,let's say,in Spain or France(2 countries I know). One night in a top Houston cancer centre will cost about 25 times as much.

Americans have to know that there are waiting lists to see the specialist in a universal healthcare system and that the room service in the hospitals won't be that of a 5 star hotel. In many countries dental care or the opthalmologist is restricted to certain age groups.

Answer 2

The report DOES take cost into account.

If you want to talk about research and developing new treatments to market, there's no doubt American companies dominate.

Now, I don't necessarily have much faith in many of these new drugs, but maybe it explains why people think that way - and will continue to do so after seeing the report. Investors, in particular, are fond of American medicine - as are foreign millionaires with odd diseases.

Then again, American doctors and hospital staff are faced with a fairly unique challenge of administering the needs of a racially diverse population. Certain diseases affect certain genetic structures and not others, so American doctors need to be aware of more variables than say some doctor in any other nation that is 90%+ genetically homogeneous.

Answer 3

USA does have great health care but no one who actually lives and WORKS in the USA can afford it! It's high tech and advanced and available, just not to the average person! But I imagine American tv goes a long way to providing the misconception. It's here but we also have HMOs which will wait people out until illnesses actually kill them before paying or approving the medical costs of services that would easily save peoples lives. It's a shame that the dollar has lost so much value across the world because in America it often comes at higher value (by big corporations) than people, their lives, health and that of the nations children as well.

Answer 4

For a majority of diseases it is true, but for some diseases better treatment is in Scandinavian countries and even Canada. But, we must also look at the vast number of U.S. citizens and other countries citizens and compare the 2, if it's compared by a ratio standard then it sucks for the U.S., if by volume the the U.S. is number 1. My great grand parents and even grandparents lived a very very long time without the type of health care that is currently proposed by legislation and constantly cried over by those who are chronically sick. The ancient Spartan way was and still is the best way.

Answer 5

I don't know where people are getting the idea that most Americans can't afford health care. There are 300 million citizens in the United States of America. According to Michael Moore (Yes, I'm ashamed I'm about to use him as a source), on one single day in history, 45 million people didn't have health insurance. That includes those who choose not to have health, and those who only lacked insurance temporarily. Even so, assuming none of those 45 million could not afford it, that's 15 percent of the nation's citizens. That's not most according to any math book I've ever seen.

But I guess I have to believe it since you posted it on the internet, and failed to do your own research.

Answer 6

Ppl get that idea bc they've lived in other countries including countries with national health insurance (which btw is not free-- they are required to buy the insurance and to pay premiums, copayments and deductibles). If you can find a country with better health care, move there! A lot of it actually depends on your doctor. The American who lived in the UK is right; in many of these countries, the health care is not unlimited treatment for everyone. Those countries decide how much and what kind of care is available for how much money so it's not a free for all--if you are over 50 in Britain, you cannot get a kidney transplant because it is viewed as not "cost effective" Older ppl (I am not sure about the exact age) cannot get kidney dialysis in Britain bc it's not "cost effective" The British govt has a major say in what they are going to pay for and what they will not pay for (bc its their program). In the US, Medicare will pay for dialysis for every American who needs it (even the very old and even for ppl under age 65).

Answer 7

we do have decent hopitals and doctors but we also have some crummy hospitals and doctors
just like the rest of the world!!!!!!!
our healthcare system is a big mess, we are controlled by hmo's and the burocratic system!!!!!!!
poor people cant get decent healthcare here in the untied states that is just not right!!!!!!!!!!!
we need universal health care like england and france and many ohter country's have so that everyone can get decent health care rich or poor!!!!!!!!!

our goverment is selfish for spending millions of dollars on stuff we dont need instead of putting that money into a proper health care system for its own people!!!!!!!!

americans die everday because they have been deined access to proper health care because they have no money to pay and the government and the states wont help them!!!!!!!!!!

its unjust and unfair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Well here in Europe that is certainly not the popular stereotype of it. France and Germany are seen (correctly) as having the best health-services with no waiting-lists. It works because health-insurance is universal and compulsory. From what I'm hearing on the radio here in Ireland the US system is seen as prohibitively expensive and out of reach of the poor.

Answer 9

I am glad that I am completely on disability now and no longer support this rotten backstabbing government of ours nor the corporations who own it! Now they can pucker up and send me that mailbox money for life! I still cannot ever really afford even the co-payments and I just don't go to doctors now at all. I was bankrupted by the medical beaurocracy in this country even though I worked between 55 and 85 hours a week all of my adult life for over 30 years! It was always like they were playing keep-away from Carl with their damned clauses and exceptions and even co-pays that keep working people away from doctors entirely! It seemed to me that more welfare families had pearly white teeth and things like braces and such while many hard-working middle class people were forced by economics to just take the cheap way out by eventually pulling their teeth too! SCREW ALL THAT! I QUIT!!!

Answer 10

The problem is that most Americans don't bother to research but they are quick to speak on things that they have no expertise on the topic.

The US is still a leader in medical education and research but it is only one leader... and a leader that has been slipping over the past 20 years. Our system is actually more expensive than most industrialized nations with less effectiveness dollar for dollar. We do have great healthcare (for those that can afford it) but it is no longer more effective than the Canadian, British, and French systems. In some ways they have surpassed us (stem cell research and infant mortality are just 2 examples).