What’s wrong with American health care?

 

This question was asked by Tim Bolen of Rick Jaffee, prominent defense attorney, for the Bolen Report.  I am going to paraphrase Rick’s answers with some of my own comments:

--The US has the most expensive health care system in the whole world.

--643,000 people go bankrupt each year due to medical bills.  Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland each had no one go bankrupt for this cause.

--Many countries have better health care statistics than we do in the US.

--New technologies and drugs are developed and researched primarily in the US, but are often too expensive for patients to utilize.

--We continue to choose to let a significant portion of our population live without adequate health care.  We pay too much for too little.

--Big Pharma (Drug companies) often raise prices for drugs by huge amounts without justification.

--Insurance companies refuse to pay for therapies that are effective.

--Diet, exercise, and stress reduction are not routinely provided for patients.

--Hospitals charge huge mark-ups for their services.

--Even single payer health insurance will not work because costs are out-of-control and are not connected to regular market forces.

--Doctors ignore nutritional supplements, which can be effective and very safe.

--Defensive medicine, malpractice lawyers, and federal regulators have combined to greatly increase the cost of medical care, while making medical practice much more difficult to provide.

 

See bolenreport.com for more details.

Celebration of HealthAssociation website