I just saw an 'early screening' of Sicko, the new Michael Moore documentary. Wow. I've been looking into the business of medicine more lately, but I ahd no idea 1) just how bad it is in the USA and 2) how amazing it can be elsewhere. I knew that the WHO had named France as the best health care system in the world, but I really had no idea how good it was. I'm not sure how to go about discussing this without spoilers, so I'm going to add the spoiler tag to the thread name.
The American system is broken, and what's worse is that we (a collective all American 'we') have had to become accustomed to the worst health care in the western world. After watching the movie, I called a friend of mine who also has Kaiser. For every 2.4 dollars he earns, Kaiser gets 1. Why? He has a preexisting condition (some type of heart problem, dissimilar to mine, but serious). He, like me, was grandfathered off a family plan onto an individual plan. He's stuck there because he can't get health care elsewhere because of his preexisting condition, and he can't reapply to Kaiser, because they'd drop him like... well they'd drop him. I happened to be in the hospital at the same time as him when I was getting my coarctation of the aorta repaired. My surgery would have cost me around $100,000 had I not been covered. His would have cost $120,000. The funny part is that if he lives to 80, he will have paid over $370,000 ($515/mo x 12 months x 60 years = 370,800). He could have gone back and had three more surgeries for the amount he will have paid, and he's one of those who has received a lot of care from the hospital. So where does the money go? Insurance is the same in any market or business. There are billionaire CEOs that need the money (thank's, capitalism!).
That's not the worst of it by far. 45 million Americans don't have health coverage because they can't afford to pay the high costs. If you get sick and go to a hospital uninsured, you'll be lucky to be treated. One instance in the film, Kaiser in Los Angeles would put uninsured sick people in a cab, and drive them over to an area nicknamed 'skid row', Union Rescue Mission. In the instance shown in the movie, a woman was dropped off in a hospital gown, confused and disoriented, unable to even care for herself. They didn't even drop her off at the entrance. When she got inside, it was clear that the bracelet provided by the hospital had been removed, so they couldn't find out who had sent her. This is not a singular occurrence. It has happened over 50 times. USC (one of the richest private schools in the country) County had happened to have dropped off an uninsured patient the day before MM started filming at the Union Rescue Mission. This patient had unfinished stitches on her head, she had several broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and was disoriented as she was dropped off. They didn't ask where to take her. They just threw her in the cab and took her over, shoving her out of the cab.
These are American citizens who are being punished for not making enough money by not even being allowed to stay healthy. 45 million Americans are in this group. That's about 15% of out total population. 1 out of every 6.6 people.
In France, things are a bit different. I was born in 1983, long before the time of the house call by doctors. Or so I thought. Apparently, in France, doctors still make house-calls. You can go into a hospital, and not only do you not pay for the health care, but they reimburse you for transport to the hospital. This, to me, is madness. It's like politicians telling the truth or a delicious chocolate bar being free of fat, sugars or preservatives. It's a fairy tale. Well, in the US it may be, but in France it's a reality. So how does the government pay for this, you may ask? Taxes, of course. So the French must pay an unreasonable amount of taxes, right? Here's a
link to a simple website, text below:
Quote:
France is anything but a tax haven, having some of the highest tax rates in Europe. The tax system is also somewhat different than in the States, you file an income tax return and then see if you have to pay. The below list is not exhaustive, you might run into other local taxes, but this should give you an idea of the different taxes that a French resident must pay.
Sales Tax - French sales tax or the TVA (taxe sur la valeur ajoutée) is 19.6%. Sales tax in France is figured the price of a product. If you see something marked at 10 euros, than that is what you will pay, not 10 euros plus 19.6%.
Television Tax - Every owner of a television in France must pay a yearly tax (redevance audio-visuelle), this last year it was around 115 euros. The money this tax rises is used in part to fund the four public television channels, France2, France3, France5 and Arté
Habitation Tax - Each housing unit in France must pay a habitation tax (taxe d'habitation). It dose not matter if you own the property or not, if you live in it you pay the tax. This tax is calculated locally by a land registrar and commission, it dose not have much relation to rent but to size, location and family situation.
Property Tax - All property owners in France must pay a yearly property tax (taxe foncière). This is much like property taxes in the states as the tax amount is calculated as a percentage of the value of the property.
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More info:
http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-legal/
http://www.doingbusiness.org/Explore...x?economyid=70
I'll admit that this is not information included in the movie, but looking at it carefully, it's no exorbitant at all. MM found a local middle class family that took in 8,000 Euros a month. They live in one of the more ritzy flats I've seen in my life. They drove two cars. They had a 4 bedroom flat, which ran about $1575 per month. They owe no money at all. Not just medical, but they had no debt outside of their home. Their biggest expense was fruits and veggies. Oh, and their vacations. They're French, after all.
One thing that surprised me about the movie, is that Americans are marrying Canadians to get their healthcare. And when you get there, there are no lines. There isn't a shortage of doctors. I'm sure my friendly TFP neighbors to the North can elaborate on this quite well.
I'll post more later. Time for dinner. Please, enjoy this movie.