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To: DavesM who wrote (109559)	4/16/2005 6:47:10 AM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 793624

'If we change our medical system to more like the British or Germans, how much can we really expect the average American lifespan to increase?' i am more interested in quality of life than lifespan with our medical system. We get access to surgeons much quicker than british system.

To: DavesM who wrote (109559)	4/16/2005 7:30:15 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793624

If we change our medical system to more like the British or Germans, how much can we really expect the average American lifespan to increase? I think this trip down the garden path (slandering the US system) has gotten away from the question raised. If life spans as an indicator of quality of care are equivalent as you say, then why are we paying so much more for the same results? The question is not about increasing life span, it is about paying excessively for an equivalent life span. We've now heard the objections to Krugman's assertions about quality. Are there no objections to his assertions about cost?

To: DavesM who wrote (109559)	4/16/2005 11:41:59 AM
From: JohnM	Respond to of 793624

If we change our medical system to more like the British or Germans, how much can we really expect the average American lifespan to increase? Nice points, Dave. We certainly don't know the answer to that question. The immediate question that comes to mind, however, is still that, given your first sentence, taking into account the totality of our population, not simply the non-Hispanic, US life spans are shorter and we pay a great deal more. I'm not arguing (don't know what Krugman is arguing) that we should simply go straight to some other system. Rather we should see these numbers as serious criticisms of the way we are doing health care now and explore other options. My own preference would be for single payer systems with universal coverage. But how much of the American lifespan is a function of our medical system, our diets compared to other nationalities, or how much is a function of who our parents are? That's a tough question and not answerable in any serious way with the data you have on the table. My guess is there are more than a few serious studies out there that address that issue. And a rather large research literature.