Overseas, strict cost controls actually drive innovation. In the United States, an MRI scan of the neck region costs about $1,500. In Japan, the identical scan costs $98. Under the pressure of cost controls, Japanese researchers found ways to perform the same diagnostic technique for one-fifteenth the American price. (And Japanese labs still make a profit.)
5. Health insurance has to be cruel.
Not really. American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a "preexisting condition" -- precisely the people most likely to need the insurers' service. They employ armies of adjusters to deny claims. If a customer is hit by a truck and faces big medical bills, the insurer's "rescission department" digs through the records looking for grounds to cancel the policy, often while the victim is still in the hospital. The companies say they have to do this stuff to survive in a tough business.
Foreign health insurance companies, in contrast, must accept all applicants, and they can't cancel as long as you pay your premiums. The plans are required to pay any claim submitted by a doctor or hospital (or health spa), usually within tight time limits. The big Swiss insurer Groupe Mutuel promises to pay all claims within five days. "Our customers love it," the group's chief executive told me. The corollary is that everyone is mandated to buy insurance, to give the plans an adequate pool of ratepayers.
The key difference is that foreign health insurance plans exist only to pay people's medical bills, not to make a profit. The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage.
Does the US have the best health care system in the world?
No. Consider the following statistics that compares 18 countries in 8 categories. The data is from 2004. The person who gave this data to me got it by Googling the World Health Organization. The other countries are Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Japan, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Canada, Euro Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Italy, Israel, New Zealand, Greece, and Spain.
Life Expectancy for men---we rank 18th.
Life Expectancy for women---we rank 17th.
Infant mortality per 1000 births� ��"we rank 2cnd.
Doctors per 1000� ��"we rank 12th.
Hospital beds per 1000� ��"we rank 17th.
GDP per capita� ��"we rank 3rd.
Health spending as a percent of GDP� ��"we rank 1st.
Health spending per capita� ��"we rank 1st.
How does the Japanese system provide health care at lower cost than the American system?
5. Health insurance has to be cruel.
Not really. American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a "preexisting condition" -- precisely the people most likely to need the insurers' service. They employ armies of adjusters to deny claims. If a customer is hit by a truck and faces big medical bills, the insurer's "rescission department" digs through the records looking for grounds to cancel the policy, often while the victim is still in the hospital. The companies say they have to do this stuff to survive in a tough business.
Foreign health insurance companies, in contrast, must accept all applicants, and they can't cancel as long as you pay your premiums. The plans are required to pay any claim submitted by a doctor or hospital (or health spa), usually within tight time limits. The big Swiss insurer Groupe Mutuel promises to pay all claims within five days. "Our customers love it," the group's chief executive told me. The corollary is that everyone is mandated to buy insurance, to give the plans an adequate pool of ratepayers.
Does the US have the best health care system in the world?
No. Consider the following statistics that compares 18 countries in 8 categories. The data is from 2004. The person who gave this data to me got it by Googling the World Health Organization. The other countries are Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Japan, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Canada, Euro Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Italy, Israel, New Zealand, Greece, and Spain.
Life Expectancy for men---we rank 18th.
Life Expectancy for women---we rank 17th.
Infant mortality per 1000 births� ��"we rank 2cnd.
Doctors per 1000� ��"we rank 12th.
Hospital beds per 1000� ��"we rank 17th.
GDP per capita� ��"we rank 3rd.
Health spending as a percent of GDP� ��"we rank 1st.
Health spending per capita� ��"we rank 1st.
How does the Japanese system provide health care at lower cost than the American system?
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