Does America have the best healthcare system in the world?

[DrAdams]

I definitely think private over publicly funded

[RavVid]

I will argue Australia's healthcare system is superior. It is in two parts private and public. The public part is funded by an income levy. Those on low income get the same level of care but pretty much no cost. If you have a serious illness you will get the care you need. Hospitals prioritize on need and urgency but for non-urgent issues there will be a waiting list.

If you don't want to wait then you can get private care quickly and there is private insurance that covers much but not all of it. You will have an uncovered portion.

The unfortunate aspect of private health insurance is that people tend to use it to get the most out of their insurance costs. Take glasses. Private health insurance will pay for a new set yearly because some people need their prescription updated yearly. However most people upgrade simply to get latest fashion frames not because they need new lenses. There are a range of things that people will claim for because they can and they want to get immediate return on medical insurance.

This makes private health insurance more expensive than it need be. It is called the tragedy of the commons. I can get new glasses from a low cost optometrist for $40 AUD. Private Health conspires in many respect because they know customers like free stuff and don't point out it is free because you are paying for it. But people are what they are and will pay heavily for free stuff. Buy two get one free works.

A problem every Western country faces is escalating medical costs. The public system fixes a price for every procedure. Which strongly keeps the costs down because patients engage with MDs who bulk bill ie charge the set price. If they do you do not pay anything. for your GP visit. Currently you would have to search hard to find a GP who doesn't bulk bill.

Medicine is dealt with similarly. Pharma competitively tender to gov't to supply specific medicines and once patents expire the price drops. Evergreening doesn't work in this environment. The charges of the chemist are kept under control as well because there is a fixed dispensing fee and a fixed fee for the medicine. A chemist can't say i will charge double because I don't have any nearby competitors. In any case it has become highly cost competitive at the retail level.

I think some US people might regard this a socialized but it balances the interests of patients with the medical industry pretty well. Individually we would be price takers and doctors would be price setters. We can shop around for the doctor we think best suits us.

[Rangers]

There's a reason people from other countries fly here for treatment, socialized Healthcare is criminally inefficient and encourages workers to do as little as humanly possible.

I know a horror story where a woman got into a car wreck in Canada and in the ER, she told them what happened and that she thought it was broken, they told her to wait.

She'd hobble over to ask when she'd be seen but they just kept telling her to wait, this went on for 2 whole days before she finally got to see the nurse. What did the nurse do? She told the woman to get a family doctor, a process that typically takes a minimum of 3 years.

The woman told the nurse she was afraid her leg would get infected and her bones won't heal properly, to which the nurse replied by telling her "well, that sucks" and kicking her out.

Her sister took her all over the place, every clinic they could drive to, but they all sat around doing nothing for her and telling her to get a family doctor in 3 years.

Finally one ER scheduled her for surgery to repair her leg, but was told that it would be done in November (it was August at the time). She accepted that answer but the nurse looked at her and said "not this November, next November).

She was livid, but they still wouldn't help her.
Her leg did get infected quite badly, and she ended up losing use of her leg completely by the time surgery came around, so the surgeon cut off her leg.

When she woke up, she was horrified, why? Her left leg is the one she lost use of, when she woke up, her right leg was gone. Yep, the surgeon cut off her good leg and now she has one non working leg left.

She begged the surgeon to reattach her leg but he replied that the hospital is closed until Monday, but she can schedule a new appointment then. She asked how long it would take, he replied that it would take a few years, at least.

Eventually her leg was amputated and she now had no legs and nothing to look forward to but a decade long estimate for a fitting appointment for prosthetics.

But she'd never get there because the left amputation was done horribly and she got infected. Seemingly without hope, she had her sister take her to the ER, when she finally saw the nurse, she asked to be euthanized, the procedure happened the same day.

So in universal Healthcare, you get an ER that doesn't care that you're critically injured in a car wreck, they'll wait until your limb no longer works to help, they'll cut off your GOOD limb and refuse to reattach it, but when you want to be put out of your misery, they do it right away.

Wow, what a good idea to implement such Healthcare systems, it is

[Cynicaldreamer]

Oh gah no. It's good, but we have SO many flaws in our healthcare: insurance companies and greedy medical facilities being the primary issue.
Basically your care and treatment come down to how much money you have.. or don't have.

If you have medicaid, VA, or Medicare? Yeah they will see you...
At certain locations, for a certain timeframe, and only cover so much. How do I know all this?

My previous job, I helped with the pre-authorization process in physical therapy. Meaning if the patient's insurance wouldn't pay, they couldn't come in... even if it was clear they really needed therapy. My heart broke hearing the receptionist explain to a patient over the phone they couldn't return to therapy because their visits weren't approved, yet we didn't want them to get a massive bill in the mail they couldn't pay for.

You heard the old saying, "Patients come first?"

... lol, lies. Money comes first.

I love working in the medical field but it's far from perfect. America could do better.

[Kori1236]

I’m going to say no. Universal funded is better, yes we do get taxed more than the states do but I’ve always received money back during tax season instead of owing. But I could get pregnant and pop out a kid at no cost to myself except body exhaustion. It’s absolutely mind boggling to me that a child in the US delivered in a hospital could cost up to $30k without insurance, and without complications.

[MrOracle]

Wealthy people from all over the world come to the US for advanced health care, so at the high end, it's the best. The problem is that it's overpriced and improperly used at the low end. But even then, care tends to be fast and mostly good.

In countries with socialized medicine, care has to be rationed to some extent in order to control costs, and even then, it's only sustainable when nearly every adult is working and paying taxes. If the non-employed percentage goes up much at all, the system quickly starts running out of money, even in relatively wealthy countries (Sweden after taking in a bunch of immigrants, for example), causing cuts and taking on debt, the latter being unsustainable.

In the UK, a scan (CT, MRI, etc.) that would be performed the same day in the same location in the US might be scheduled out 2 or 3 weeks and require a drive, because scanning machines are limited to save costs. This might just mean longer suffering for the patient, but in some cases, the delay in care can have serious consequences, including death. This is true of other expensive procedures, such as surgery. You'll get it, but not always in time.

For less critical care, this is fine, but sometimes, this system is very bad for the patient. And if you are deemed "too old" or "too sick", expensive life-saving procedures may not be approved. That's the part of socialized health care that no one wants to talk about.

The US system certainly isn't perfect either. For example, medicines here have very high prices simply because the drug companies know that they can get it. They sell the same meds elsewhere for far less. The government is largely to blame, and that includes both sides of the isle who take money from the drug companies.

[bademoxy]

Canadian libertarian here. Socialized medicine and government managed/funded schools end up garbage as public unions turn it to lazy corrupt political activism. Within 3 generations , the lack of market competition results in so much tax theft by civil servants , it's far cheaper (and way faster ) to just pay for private group rates for what WORKING folks NEED. We up here get lied to constantly that "America's poor die untreated on the street" when in fact the U. S. has a Two Tiered medical system : a user PAID for one which gets far faster and effective treatment then Canada's single tier system, then a public one wherein doctors follow their Hippocratic oath to not deny at least basic treatment to those who have nothing to lose. "Free" education and health care, is only "free" for lazy bums who never work..

[Ill_made_Knight]

America's healthcare SYSTEM? Privatized thuggery. America pays twice per capita what other advanced nations pay for worse outcomes. Other advanced countries have universal healthcare in some form. The Mercatus Center did studies on the Medicare For All proposal a few years back and found that it would actually save a cool couple trillion oer ten years.
On the down side, if everyone actually recieves the care they should get then the series "Breaking Bad" never happens.
America's "healthcare system is a barbaric construct built to profit the private hospitals, insurance companies, and big pharma ludicrously.
How much ya willin' ta pay ta save your kiddo's life?

[abc3643]

No, of course not.
It's only the best healthcare system in the world if you can afford it.
Right now, I will have to pay for years for a surgery I had 3 years ago. And then I had follow-up exams which just keep adding to the debt. (*) And, thank God my wife works for CVS so my drugs are cheap otherwise I'd be paying $1000s for one month supply of _____.

(*) I guess I should be grateful though. I have so much medical debt that my creditors won't let me die because they want their money. They will simply give me more medical treatments and add it on to my bill.

[crossdressingrihno]

Certain things should be free but not ALL things. First off life saving surgery shouldn’t be so expensive secondly children’s healthcare should be Free. Parents can pay for their own health care but kids shouldn’t be deprived of health coverage just because the parents are poor or lazy. Third an ambulance should be less expensive since those kinds of injuries are the kind that make you lose opportunities. Fourth I believe hospitals should heavily fine people who abuse certain systems specifically things like faking an emergency to be seen sooner or similar actions

[Stoner710]

We’re not the best and we’re not the worst I do think that private funding is the best method I think that we should actually open up our healthcare system to be more capitalistic I see the issue in small towns like mine where there’s only one hospital but in a place like Seattle or Portland or a major city there really is no reason why healthcare centers should not be competing against each other those who have a better Price for a cast for a broken leg should be the one that people visit versus you charging everyone tens of thousands of dollars for a cast in order to fix a broken leg.

I understand the idea of socialized medicine for those who are poor who cannot afford a broken leg so for some type of income especially those who are living paycheck to paycheck I understand a more public option, but for the most part I think people should be paying for their own medical bills.

[Tanhoaon]

Frankly, absolutely not the best if you see other countries, but it’s not the most balance comparing the other aspects. Instead of complaining about expenses of your own in both hospital fee and insurance in public medical services. Why don’t you ask where our tax money go when we need it for the health care? Why does insurance generally increase instead of cutting? You know most of the money goes where but just ignoring it, making a reason, keeping silence and playing the act of knowing nothing and admiring the other countries.

[Tanhoaon]

If you do see the other countries raising tax and then appear more the poor instead of making them becoming better, that’s how the big gov. like.

If government pay for me more, Why should I try when all my efforts, all my investment partly raise the others. And if I become lazy, I can be one of them and someone else will raise me and more pressure for the rest you consider “rich”. Why should I try when I know someone will raise me by the benefit money? How much are people bankrupted? How much are we getting cancer and bankrupted? How much are we got pregnant coming to the point unable to work after? The fact is not the major. But the money is used to raise people having no disability, also reasons to work. Furthermore, our money goes to every expense and you know where it goes. Do the other countries do that? Not much like U. S. do for those hating human, love animals, love environment but let the other countries polluting and killing animals. Absolutely moral in here.

Even the middle classes you consider “rich”, is the component helping your life, even you probably become one of them due to their sponsorships. Those real rich, you can not touch a shit of them. Bill Gate, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, etc., even you are trying to tax them. They have variety of way to avoid taxes. They hire a lawyer to avoid taxes, they move factory out of countries to avoid taxes, they sell their products outside countries to avoid taxes. And definitely you can not do a shit to those real rich. But middle classes don’t have money to hire a lawyer, move factory out of country or sell product out of country. That’s why they need to fire a worker, raise price their products to raise their business. They don’t need to volunteer to donate because their money already is taxed for that, but for thing is not healthcare for you. And if you try to push them, they will be bankrupted, and you, the poor, need to start to pay tax to raise who is poorer. You now become the rich, perfect.

[Anonymous]

Aren't people in America unhappy about the high prices for the medical services and how little insurance covers?

In Germany we have pretty much superior public universal healthcare system. We do have private insurance option too with way more privileges and benefits but it comes with a determined price.

The downside? With public insurance everything is overbooked. I have to wait 2-6 months until I get my schedule with the surgeons and doctors.

Private insurance or paying out of your own pocket all the way. That or live with your health the way it is.

There were many instances where I paid for the medical services and surgeries out of my own pocket. And I do not regret having spent a single penny. The kind of money I spent on medical services could be a sum high enough to buy a 2. nd hand VolksWagen, which is only a few years old. Money is everything.

[JamesDiaz11]

America has the highest quality, most advanced healthcare system (our hospitals/ doctors/ equipment are the best), but when it comes to access and the approach we take (reactive instead of proactive/ preventative care) other countries are better.

[WindAtMyBack]

They have the best healthcare, but not necessarily the best system. The best system is also the most expensive. Do you want good or do you want cheap? They are mutually exclusive.

The thing is about US healthcare is that Americans subsidize the rest of the world. Expensive US healthcare makes the rest of the word cheaper.

In order for the cost of US healthcare to match the rest of the world, either the rest of the world has to pay more, or the quality has to decrease.

[SnowedIn]

Hell no. In terms of how the U. S. system is funded and administered, nowhere near the best. In terms of certain types of specialty care, probably near the top. In terms of availability of care to every citizen who needs it, nowhere near the best. In terms of health outcomes, many of those are far from the top measured against both the developed world and the developing world.

[MuddyMole]

It's great if you're a shareholder in a big pharmaceutical or health insurance corporation. Perhaps even if you're a doctor or rich person. Everyone else is getting terrible value for money.

[JDavid25]

Yeah, we have one of the best.. That's why people come from other countries to America to get operations.. We have some of the best doctors in the world.. The problem is that people think we don't have some sort of "Universal health benefits".. We do actually, and it's making Healthcare worse in America..

[HighValue]

I doubt it since in the last couple years in some places they have refused care to White people based on race. Our healthcare prescription system also sucks and is based on greed and charging whatever they can get away with. You can buy American made medicine from Canada and it costs less. The make it here, ship it to Canada, then you buy it and they ship it back and it still costs less because when they sell it here originally directly to Americans, they rip us off.

[CasuallySamsonite]

As an American I wouldn't know, it's been over a decade since I could afford even a basic medical check up much less actual medical care. I'm sure I've got a dozen factors that are actively shortening my lifespan drastically but if I can't afford the day to day cost of living despite making objectivly good money, sure as hell can't afford to see a doctor and or seek medication in the USA.

[annabananna]

It’s difficult for some to pay for our healthcare but it is pretty good healthcare. Some people go bankrupt to get it though. I may get some people upset with me for saying this but I do care what country my doctor comes from. I’d never want a Russian doctor to do surgery on me.

[findacure4wokeness]

I want a white doctor myself with the way POCs racism goes unchecked they might just murder me and put COD as natural causes.

[RolandCuthbert]

Rich folks have the best healthcare in the world.

[pepper1993]

If you're talking about the actual Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, paramedics, rehab facilities, etc...) then yes. If you're talking about the actual process of paying for that treatment then obviously no.

[Surely]

I have heard that Canada has excellent health care. Providing that you can live long enough to get an appointment!
Don’t know how much that they pay in taxes to support it?
Healthcare and prescription meds in the US is a for profit business that is way out of hand’

[Kori1236]

The living long enough bit entirely depends on your family doctor and if you have one. Any procedure I need, bloodwork, CT scan, MRI, X-ray etc.. I can have it within a week if not sooner. If you don’t have a family doctor, CTs and MRIs can take ages to get. Taxes depends on your income, I’ve always received about $2-3k back when I do them, I didn’t do them for a couple years and ended up with about $6k in my account. But I also take about 30% of taxes off of each pay to cover my taxes and ensure I get money back.

Prescription medications is slightly similar to the US, if you don’t have health insurance it’s stupid expensive but if you do, it’s relatively cheap as long as the medication you need is covered (some companies aren’t covered under insurance; but they do have policies where if an alternative drug doesn’t work then they cover the cost) a $50 prescription with insurance cost me $3

[Surely]

@Kori1236 Thank you for your input.
Having a procedure done in the US. Currently takes a while because of the work load backed up by Covid restrictions. That is what they are telling us!

[Kori1236]

That’s kind of understandable and really sucks especially if it’s an urgent procedure

[vj0090]

I don't think so... Covid crises just proved it.. I agree no one was prepare and healthcare sector of every country got exposed.. But US was considered to have the best healthcare system unfortunately US was amongst top two countries having highest death rate.. RIP to all those who lost their lives.