I’ve been saying this for years, but maybe hearing it from Business Roundtable will add credibility to my liberal opinion. Let’s look at the findings (emphasis mine).
Lead Health Care Messages
In many important respects, the American health care system is among the best in the world. When it comes to scientific advances, medical technology and the quality of our doctors and medical institutions, the United States is without peer. But our country’s health care system also is becoming increasingly expensive, which is having a direct negative impact on American competitiveness. Rising health care costs are one of the top cost pressures facing U.S. businesses today, inhibiting job creation and hurting America’s ability to compete in global markets. This study helps demonstrate the relationship between spending, quality and competitiveness while enabling us to track progress as we push forward with health care reform.
Direct negative impact on American competitiveness. Inhibiting job creation and hurting America’s ability to compete in global markets. Houston, we have a problem, and it doesn’t get any clearer than this. We also have health issues, which given the money we spend on Health Insurance should make all of us realize we aren’t getting what we’re paying for.
Let’s look at the study’s results which “combines internationally reported measures covering both spending on, and the performance of, national health care systems to assign a value to the U.S. health care system compared with important global competitors.”
These results show the U.S. is suffering from a significant health care value gap.
o U.S. workers and employers receive 23% less value from our health care system than the
average of five leading economic competitors – Canada, Japan, Germany, the United
Kingdom and France (the “G-5 group”).
o U.S. workers and employers receive 46% less value than the average of emerging
competitors Brazil, India and China (the “BIC group”).
Let’s be honest. The only people benefiting from the US Health Care system are the insurance companies and those rich enough to go outside of their network and pay for care. And given what we pay for Health Care as a nation there is no excuse for us not to be number one. These figures are a national embarrassment, and all the flag waving and free market talk won’t change the fact that we are paying top dollar for an inferior product.
The study also shows:
o As a group, G-5 countries spend about 63 cents for every dollar the U.S. spends on health
care – yet the health of the U.S. workforce lags by 10% in a composite measure.
o The gap is even wider in relation to rising economic powers: the three BIC countries
spend just 15% of what we spend on health care, yet the health of the U.S. workforce
trails that of BIC countries by 5%.
o In terms of per capita spending, the United States spends $828 more per person than G-5
countries and $1,654 more per person than BIC countries.
o When you look just at employer spending, in 2006, American businesses paid 73 cents
more per hour more for health benefits than those in the G-5 group – a disparity that grew
by nearly 50% between 2004 and 2006.
Pro-Business groups… are you listening? This is a problem that’s effecting our economy and our health. We, as a nation, can no longer afford to separate the two. The connection between our Economy and Health Care is indisputable, with Health Care having the upper hand… because it’s Health Care that’s bringing business to its knees.