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The Cost of U.S. Healthcare

Two interesting articles recently came across the news feeds here. Both were based on the same study but featured interestingly different headlines and viewpoints.

From Yahoo News the headlines read: “Higher Spending May Lead to Better Healthcare”
From Nando Media the headlines read: “Report says health care in U.S. costlier, but not necessarily better”

If one was to read just the “Yahoo” article, one may be lead to believe that if we just spend more money in the U.S., we would be healthier. The “Nando” article states that the U.S. already spends more but health in the U.S. is not necessarily better.

We suggest you read both articles and study the differences. The “Yahoo” article comes from Reuters Health Services and is written for the U.S. market whereas the “Nando” article offers a different source and is written for the global market.

Interesting points mentioned:
U.S. Health care costs are double the health expenditures in other industrialized countries but do not necessarily result in better health.

$4,270 per person, or 14 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), was spent on health care in the United States in 1998, according to the report.

Among the 23 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD) the U.S. ranks in the bottom half of countries for life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the report.

So what does a U.S. citizen get for $4,270 per person?
The report suggests that “Higher spending gets you a shorter wait” but as the Yahoo article states, “it doesn’t necessarily get you better health outcomes.”

I would bet that many U.S. citizens would prefer a $2000.00 per family member tax credit and/or some real U.S. healthcare for a change.

Read the “Yahoo” article first and then the “Nando Media” article to get a comparison. (The Reuters version was published in U.S. newspapers today.)

Yahoo News: Higher Spending May Lead to Better Healthcare

Nando Media: Report says health care in U.S. costlier, but not necessarily better

planetc1.com-news @ 4:57 pm | Article ID: 957830275

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