PG Admin21:
Rasmussen Reports, a polling firm based in Asbury Park, N.J., show that President Obama’s health care reform was approved by some 51 percent of Americans after his speech before a joint session of Congress. That figure has dropped to 45 percent. Do we need -- and can we afford -- health care reform?
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First, depending on how the questions was asked, Rasumssen is largey a republican leaning polling organization and skews their results It would be helpful if you posted what question was asked.
Second of the 20 major industrialized countries in the world, the US is the only one without a public option for health care coverage.
Third, in the US we pay more for health care than any in the world and our life expectancy is below some third world countries.
Fourth, nobody in the other industrialized countries is bankrupted by health care costs
Fifth, soaring health care costs in the US are crippling families and are projected to go from and average of 13,000/yr for a familiy to 22,000/yr.
Six, for profit insurance companies routinely cancel coverage for sick patients in the name of profits and stock prices.
Seven, in most countries health care is considered a right.
Eight, Six million americans are estimated to travel abroad for health care
Nine, cost isn't proof of quality
In Health Care, Cost Isn’t Proof of High Quality
In a Pennsylvania government survey of the state’s 60 hospitals that perform heart bypass surgery, the best-paid hospital received nearly $100,000, on average, for the operation while the least-paid got less than $20,000
At both, patients had comparable lengths of stay and death rates.
And among the 20 hospitals serving metropolitan Philadelphia, two of the highest paid actually had higher-than-expected death rates, the survey found
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20070614_INSURE1.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/health/14insure.html
MEXICO CITY — It sounds almost too good to be true: a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year.
To get it, you just have to move to Mexico.
As the United States debates an overhaul of its health care system, thousands of American retirees in Mexico have quietly found a solution of their own, signing up for the health care plan run by the Mexican Social Security Institute.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-31-mexico-health-care_N.htm
Lower costs lure U.S. patients abroad for treatment
Study: More than 6 million from U.S. will travel abroad for treatment in the next year
Companies creating a niche in the service industry as medical travel planners
Hospitals market upscale accommodations, Western-trained surgeons
Next year alone, an estimated 6 million Americans will travel abroad for surgery, according to a 2008 Deloitte study. "Medical care in countries such as India, Thailand and Singapore can cost as little as 10 percent of the cost of comparable care in the United States," the report found.
Companies such as Los Angeles-based Planet Hospital are creating a niche in the service industry as medical travel planners. One guidebook says that more than 200 have sprung up in the last few years. "We find the best possible surgeons and deliver their service to patients safely, affordably and immediately," said Rudy Rupak, president of Planet Hospital. "No one should have to choose between an operation to save their life or going bankrupt."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/27/india.medical.travel/index.html