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The Washington Post, Which Said the Economy Was Just Fine, Says That We Can't Fix Health Care
The Washington Post, which is widely known as the paper that printed a column in mid-September saying the economy was just fine, has a column today telling readers that there is nothing we can do about health care costs. Remarkably, this lengthy column never once notes the fact that the United States pays more than twice as much per person for health care than the average of the other wealthy countries, all of whom enjoy longer life expectancies.
This is a hard to overlook piece of evidence suggesting that the United States could do a great deal to lower its health care costs. Among other things, we have a hugely wasteful insurance system (noted in the column), pay close to twice as much for prescription drugs as people in other wealthy countries, and pay our medical specialists close to twice as much as they earn in other wealthy countries.
Overpaying for drug and doctors not only directly wastes money by causing us to pay more for the same services. The huge rents created by these over-payments leads drug companies and specialists to find ways to promote excessive use of their products and services. The rest is really bad an really expensive medicine.
Unfortunately, the villains in this story have enormous political power (because of their huge rents), which makes it very difficult to change the system, but that is not an excuse for the Post not to point out the underlying factors that drive up health care costs.
If we cannot change the U.S. health care system, one alternative is to allow people to buy into the health care system of other countries. However, the Post is far too protectionist to even allow the possibility of freer trade in health care to be discussed in its pages.
--Dean Baker
COMMENTS (6)
What is ratio of our doctor's median salaries to the US median salary? How does that compare to other industrial societies? I've got doctor friends in England who feel quite wealthy.
The US has the world's highest median income, I believe.
I would find it hard to argue for lower relative doctor's salaries in the US than worldwide.
Posted by: Robert Blandford | January 11, 2009 2:14 PM
When I first saw it, I thought your headline referred to Robert Samuelson's piece in yesterday's WP, in which he said "all administrative costs (including government programs such as Medicare) account for only 7 percent of total health costs."
The real question is, what are the administrative costs of NON-government health care programs, which I would think to be in the neighbourhood of 25 to 30 percent, mostly devoted to figuring out ways of denying coverage to subscribers.
Posted by: Murray Stone | January 12, 2009 11:51 AM
True, the Brits overpay their
doctors, according to the Telegraph, thanks to "the stupidity with which the .
Government settled its debt with their [the doctors'] trade union." But many of the Brits have the good sense to be annoyed, noting that the "average family doctor now earns more than the Lord Chancellor."
And on the Continent doctors' incomes are considerably lower, apparently as a function of supply and demand. Imagine that.
Posted by: Verdi | January 12, 2009 7:41 PM
thanks so much for your thoughtful and informed commentary on truthout.org about the stimulus package; I read your list, learned and enjoyed it!! I am a writer, nurse, and researcher, and currently unemployed except here and there temp jobs. I really love the idea of paying people to be creative. I spent my life creatively developing specialized knowledge for keeping people healhier. as a nurse with novel information to share, if I could be subsidized I would have full time to devote to information helping people stay youthful and healthy with minimal fuss saving money using grocery store food in a new way. your writing gives me some hope for my future and the future of affordable universal coverage in our country.
Posted by: AJ | January 12, 2009 9:26 PM
As a Canadian, I am constantly reading with amazement the absolute rejection of the Canadian system of Medicare.
My personal experience:
1. After a reasonably healthy life, I suffered a heart attack in 1999. I received swift and skilled treatment in Emergency and thereafter spent five days in the Intensive Care Unit.
The cost to me? Zero - in the US how many thousands of dollars would this treatment cost?
2. In January of this year, owing to a valve defect, I underwent open-heart surgery. Teams of surgeons, anaesthetists and profusionists totalling twelve persons performed the eight hour operation. Afterward, I spent two weeks in hospital receiving post-op care.
The cost to me? Zero - how many tens of thousands would this care have cost in the US?
In considering our system versus yours, please bear in mind that we are definitely NOT a socialist country.
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