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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (105803)	3/10/2009 11:37:57 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541777

We have huge problems with our system, but if you have insurance and are in need of lifesaving medical attention, is there really anywhere else in the world that you would rather be? I'll start believing differently when rich Americans start going overseas for their care or the megarich in other countries start avoiding the US. No doubt the US leads in medical technology, and perhaps deal with "extreme" medical situations better than other countries (although one hears about people going to other countries for unapproved drugs and treatments for, e.g., cancers). But, that said--should a medical system be judged by how it deals with mostly outlier life threatening situations, or by how it deals with the great majority of its citizens the great majority of the time, measured statistically by criteria such as life expectancy, incidence of disease, infant mortality, and other general "wellness" indicators? Especially w/r/t cost?

To: slacker711 who wrote (105803)	3/10/2009 2:36:26 PM
From: Cogito	Respond to of 541777

>>We have huge problems with our system, but if you have insurance and are in need of lifesaving medical attention, is there really anywhere else in the world that you would rather be? The paperwork will suck and the insurance companies will try and screw you, but you will get the best possible care in the world. I'll start believing differently when rich Americans start going overseas for their care or the megarich in other countries start avoiding the US.<< Slacker - I don't know that we get the best possible care in the world. On what do you base that conclusion? In any case, wealthy Americans do go overseas for treatment sometimes, though that may have as much to do with amenities at the clinics/spas in places like Baden Baden as it does with the overall quality of care. Yes, if you have lots of money, you can get excellent medical treatment in this country. We have a lot of good doctors. The problem we have here isn't in the quality of doctors or in medical technology. It's in the screwy patchwork of expensive ways we find of paying for it all. - Allen