published: Friday, May 11, 2012

What's wrong with our health system?

What's wrong with our health system?

What's wrong with health care in America? You will find answers in the book "The Healing of America."

Author T.R. Reid visited health centers around the world to see, first hand, what health care looks like in real time. In one hospital in India, he saw a woman work her medicine in something that appears to be a medical astrology or faith healing. Naturally, that medicine does not cost much.

But when health expenditures are compared, he found that the Japanese provide much better health care for $3,000 per person each year while U.S. health care costs $7,000 per person each year for similar health care.

The U.S. health care system is a hodgepodge of various systems.

For people under age 65, worker and employer share the health care premium.

For native Americans, military personnel, and veterans, the V.A. Administration looks like the British model.

If a person is over age 65, their medical care looks like the Canadian model. If a U.S. citizen is not insured, they can have medical care but they must pay out of pocket expenses.

Most developed nations have a health care system that covers everybody because it is a moral imperative. In America, there are huge parts of the population with no health care network. There is almost no "socialized" health care anywhere.

America is the most powerful, most innovative, most wealthy, the strongest, the smartest and the richest nation on the planet. America has the best trained medical people in the world. America has the best-equipped hospitals and medical research. Why do 45 million Americans have no health insurance at all?

Each year 700,000 Americans file for bankruptcy because they cannot pay their medical bills. That is not so smart. So, look at the French health care system. What makes French health care different from the U.S. health system?

When T.R. Reid entered the office of Dr. Tamalet in a little French town south of Paris, he saw a clean, bare room with an exam table and a couple of small wooden desks. A computer and keyboard sat on one desk. No magazines. No patient folders bulging on shelves. There was a sign that read, "We accept the carte vitale," which is the green plastic credit card with a small gold memory chip in the middle. All the patient's medical records are on that card. There is no paperwork for doctors to file.

After Dr. Tamalet examined Reid's shoulder, he turned to the keyboard and tapped in a few sentences and the session was ended. In about a week, Dr. Tamalet would be reimbursed for his appointment with Reid, and Reid will never see the bill. The patient will never negotiate with the insurance company because the government pays the physician.

In France, everybody is covered and the government spends about $3,100 per person per year. That is part of the reason the French health system is rated No. 1 in the world.

Comment allez-vous?

Robert Wesolowski | The Villages