Hi mlevass!
No insult taken and none intended either. I apologize for not having fact-checked the latest data about health insurance coverage in the US before. It’s not 20 %. Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available.

http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml

16 % uninsured vs. 0 %. These are the facts. I’m aware that health coverage is a choice for Americans. I’m just not sure if this is such a good thing. And I’m glad that some Democrats seem to understand the problem with the current approach.

I don’t disagree with everything you say, but the statement that Americans pay for the drugs of the rest of the world is ridiculous. Most available drugs in the US are not available here and vice versa. Europe has it’s own drug industry and they are doing economically very well also without the American market. And American pharmaceutical companies make money here in Europe, otherwise they wouldn’t be here.

The reason why Americans pay more for their medicine is because US Health Care providers aren’t allowed to negotiate prices. It’s not a fair market economy.

The most important facts of this discussion are the official international benchmarks and statistics. For example, in the United States, one in every 2,500 women dies in pregnancy or childbirth. By contrast, one woman dies in every 30,000 pregnancies in Sweden. We are talking here about a lot of unnecessary deaths!

Actually, you can look at almost any available indicators and you will see that the US is trailing most industrial nations when it comes to life expectancy, immunization coverage, or density of physicians (per 1000 population).

http://www.who.int/whosis/database/core/core_select.cfm

On the other hand, the costs per capita for health care tops those of all other industrialized countries.

Please don’t take this personal, but one of the reasons why you have less problems getting an appointment at a nearby dentist in the US is because a significant part of your fellow countrymen aren’t able to make any such appointments.

And that’s both wrong and unnecessary in a rich country like the US.

Rudi,

My statements are not based on opinions but on my experience and facts.  You can argue against opinion and you can site other examples of experience but it is your choice to accept fact or not but. 

Criticism is not intended to be insulting.  Every system has its good and bad points.  I spent a lot of time around Zillertal, Elmau, Insbruck and loved the area and the people. My wife had a stomach virus and had to go to the clinic near Elmau and they were wonderful.

You are correct in saying that some European countries have lower unemployment than the US.
Europe has an overall unemployment rate of 7.4%
These are lower Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands. The other Scandinavian countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway’s figures were not available by the Eurostat agency)
Austria is in between 4.5 and 4.5% and the US is 4.3-4.4%.  Two other countries are in the high 4%, two more are in the low 5% and the rest range between 7 and 13%, most being in the mid to high 8%.

The percentage of uninsured is conveniently incorrectly stated.  Unlike unemployment, which is frequently and consistently calculated, Uninsured numbers are not a true accurate count.  Those that were uninsured at any time during the calculated period are counted as uninsured.  Many times if a person changes jobs/location and they have localized insurance, they must cancel their insurance and start a new policy.  They are counted.  Believe it or not, there are many, and i know quite a few, that because of their youth and lifestyle choose not to have health insurance and keep the money to do with what they will.  Some invest it, some save it, some spend it.  It is their choice.  They know in case of emergency, they will get treated at the emergency room. 

The horror stories of someone not being treated because of lack of insurance is greatly exaggerated. You can try to research the number of treated uninsured patients to the number of those not treated.

I agree your statement about malpractice.  But at least there is a chance to sue for malpractice.  When i lived in Germany for more than 15 years there were many cases of dead or severely injured patients that had to fight for compensation and received nothing.

Drugs are generally cheaper in Europe and Canada for a few major of reasons.  Fact:  Socialized medicine regulates drug prices.  If pharmaceutical companies want to sell their drugs, they must agree to regulated prices.  Fact:  The difference is then passed to the US market where they recover the lost revenue buy higher prices in the US where drug prices are not regulated.  Why? In gerneral, the US society is more prosperous and can afford it. 

We wanted to change dentists in Germany. It was June.  I finally, after calling 22 dentists offices, was able to get an appointment.  Why?  They said they were totally booked until the middle of July and then the dentists office was closing because all of the dentists are going on holiday for 3 weeks and then they were booked for 2 weeks after that. 

I do miss knuedels..lol.  My best wishes to you

@mlevass

I’m a citizen of the European Union who lived 4 years in the United States. I know the health system of my country Austria and the ones in Switzerland, Germany and the UK quite well, and I have to disagree with your statement below.

My country (Austria) as well as Switzerland and most Scandinavian countries have less unemployment than the United States. Nobody - really NOBODY - here is without health insurance. Yes indeed, we pay more for taxes and social security here. On the other side: health care in Europe as a whole is much cheaper than in the United States. Prescribed drugs and medical treatment costs far less.

You are right that the standards in American hospitals are very good, even better than the European standards. This is the result of the unique legal system in the U.S. We obviously have exclusive (and expensive) private clinics here too with the highest standards, but normal people don’t need them.

Ask the German doctors if they would like to practice in a country where 20 % of the population is uninsured and where doctors face the risk of insane malpractice law-suits. You will find that the higher standards don’t make up for social injustice and madness.

I was in Europe for 15 years.  I have experienced health care systems in Germany, France, Belgium, England, Austria and the Ukraine.  I have also experienced health care in Canada, having been born there and lived there.

Socialized health care may seem rosy from a distance but it is far from ideal.  Nothing is free.  It is payed for by tax increases or money deducted from your monthly income.  In order to maintain the same standard of living, wages are increased to compensate so the citizen doesn’t “notice”.  Unfortunately, this also increases the cost to employers, which then increases price of goods which forces employers to try to cut costs in order to the prices in check.  The cuts are always in labor.  Unemployment in these countries are almost if not double of the United States.  Coincidence?

Although the situations in emergency rooms in these countries are somewhat better than in the US, Medical offices not in hospitals or clinics are overfilled.  Europeans go to the doctor for even the most minor medical conditions.  This is for a number of reasons.  1.  To get out of work 2.  Not many effective medicines sold over the counter.  3.  Unlimited sick days means no personal responsibility to minimize health risks.  4. No worry about out of pocket costs (although some countries such as Germany have begun deductibles or co-pay to counteract the huge drain that has been placed on the economy by the health care system).

Stern, a German magazine like TIME, interviewed a large number of German doctors.  The doctors were asked, if they personally had to have medical treaments, where would the want the procedures done.
The interviewer did not elaborate the choices be German facilities and was shocked when more than 80% said they would choose any large hospital in the US.

A friend of mine in Canada had to wait six months for an MRI because most clinics and hospitals can not afford the MRI machines.  He was able to find one clinic that did have an opening but was in the next “med district”.  He was told that since it was out of his district and the clinic was not government funded, he would have to pay for it himself or wait the 6 months.  It has been 2 years since some of his vertebrae were damaged in a car accident.
He has been on pain medication and goes to physical therapy because the government denied him an operation hoping that he would not need the surgery.

Gore isn’t running.  Kucinich is.