Vultures

[Tommy Tainant]

These chaps do well out of human misery.

 

[SYTFE]

We can thank the corrupt GOP for that.

 

[Fenton Lum]

We can thank the corrupt GOP for that.

You can thank "both parties", the dems are just as quilty of cock blocking what the rest of the advanced post industrial world enjoys in terms of healthcare. And Dick Gephardt has stated it will never come up on his watch. Took him less than a month to set up a lobbying firm once he left public "service". And what did the CA dem party pick for a state party chairman? Phuggin' pharma lobbyist.


"Two" parties to serve the aristocracy, none to serve the people.

 

[Andylusion]

We can thank the corrupt GOP for that.

You had your chance to fix things, with Obama and the Democrats in 2009. You failed. You have only yourself to blame.

 

[Andylusion]

These chaps do well out of human misery.

80% of the public liked their health insurance before Obama ruined it.

Is a vulture someone who provides a good or service you like?

 

[Fenton Lum]

We can thank the corrupt GOP for that.

You had your chance to fix things, with Obama and the Democrats in 2009. You failed. You have only yourself to blame.

I'm enjoying all the fixin' going on now.

 

[Fenton Lum]

These chaps do well out of human misery.

80% of the public liked their health insurance before Obama ruined it.

Is a vulture someone who provides a good or service you like?

Predatory is what your system is, perhaps he's alluding to that. You're correct that the Heritage Foundation hatched plan Obama rolled out did not fix anything.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Imagine scraping by on just 250k a day ? Poor bastard, he must do it for the love of humanity.

 

[fncceo]

OMG, people becoming wealthy from their own talents!

What could possibly be worse?

If you're really concerned about the compensation that OTHER people get ... volunteer to do their job better for half price and see how many job offers you land.

 

[Fenton Lum]

Imagine scraping by on just 250k a day ? Poor bastard, he must do it for the love of humanity.

They're entitled to it.

 

[Fenton Lum]

OMG, people becoming wealthy from their own talents!

What could possibly be worse?

If you're really concerned about the compensation that OTHER people get ... volunteer to do their job better for half price and see how many job offers you land.

That's exactly the same isn't it.

New York, N.Y., October 8, 2015 — The U.S. spent more per person on health care than 12 other high-income nations in 2013, while seeing the lowest life expectancy and some of the worst health outcomes among this group, according to a Commonwealth Fund report out today. The analysis shows that in the U.S., which spent an average of $9,086 per person annually, life expectancy was 78.8 years. Switzerland, the second-highest-spending country, spent $6,325 per person and had a life expectancy of 82.9 years. Mortality rates for cancer were among the lowest in the U.S., but rates of chronic conditions, obesity, and infant mortality were higher than those abroad.

“Time and again, we see evidence that the amount of money we spend on health care in this country is not gaining us comparable health benefits,” said Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D. “We have to look at the root causes of this disconnect and invest our health care dollars in ways that will allow us to live longer while enjoying better health and greater productivity.”

U.S. Spends More on Health Care Than Other High-Income Nations But Has Lower Life Expectancy, Worse Health


U.S. Healthcare Ranked Dead Last Compared To 10 Other Countries

U.S. Healthcare Ranked Dead Last Compared To 10 Other Countries


Major Findings
· Quality: The indicators of quality were grouped into four categories: effective care, safe care, coordinated care, and patient-centered care. Compared with the other 10 countries, the U.S. fares best on provision and receipt of preventive and patient-centered care. While there has been some improvement in recent years, lower scores on safe and coordinated care pull the overall U.S. quality score down. Continued adoption of health information technology should enhance the ability of U.S. physicians to identify, monitor, and coordinate care for their patients, particularly those with chronic conditions.

· Access: Not surprisingly—given the absence of universal coverage—people in the U.S. go without needed health care because of cost more often than people do in the other countries. Americans were the most likely to say they had access problems related to cost. Patients in the U.S. have rapid access to specialized health care services; however, they are less likely to report rapid access to primary care than people in leading countries in the study. In other countries, like Canada, patients have little to no financial burden, but experience wait times for such specialized services. There is a frequent misperception that trade-offs between universal coverage and timely access to specialized services are inevitable; however, the Netherlands, U.K., and Germany provide universal coverage with low out-of-pocket costs while maintaining quick access to specialty services.

· Efficiency: On indicators of efficiency, the U.S. ranks last among the 11 countries, with the U.K. and Sweden ranking first and second, respectively. The U.S. has poor performance on measures of national health expenditures and administrative costs as well as on measures of administrative hassles, avoidable emergency room use, and duplicative medical testing. Sicker survey respondents in the U.K. and France are less likely to visit the emergency room for a condition that could have been treated by a regular doctor, had one been available.

· Equity: The U.S. ranks a clear last on measures of equity. Americans with below-average incomes were much more likely than their counterparts in other countries to report not visiting a physician when sick; not getting a recommended test, treatment, or follow-up care; or not filling a prescription or skipping doses when needed because of costs. On each of these indicators, one-third or more lower-income adults in the U.S. said they went without needed care because of costs in the past year.

· Healthy lives: The U.S. ranks last overall with poor scores on all three indicators of healthy lives—mortality amenable to medical care, infant mortality, and healthy life expectancy at age 60. The U.S. and U.K. had much higher death rates in 2007 from conditions amenable to medical care than some of the other countries, e.g., rates 25 percent to 50 percent higher than Australia and Sweden. Overall, France, Sweden, and Switzerland rank highest on healthy lives.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally


No other advanced country even comes close to the United States in annual spending on health care, but plenty of those other countries see much better outcomes in their citizens' actual health overall.

A new Commonwealth Fund report released Thursday underscored that point — yet again — with an analysis that ranks 13 high-income nations on their overall health spending, use of medical services, prices and health outcomes.

The study data, which is from 2013, predates the full implementation of Obamacare, which took place in 2014. Obamacare is designed to increase health coverage for Americans and stem the rise in health-care costs.

The findings indicate that despite spending well in excess of the rate of any other of those countries in 2013, the United States achieved worse outcomes when it comes to rates of chronic conditions, obesity and infant mortality.

One rare bright spot for the U.S., however, is that its mortality rate for cancer is among the lowest out of the 13 countries, and that cancer rates fell faster between 1995 and 2007 than in other countries.

"Time and again, we see evidence that the amount of money we spend on health care in this country is not gaining us comparable health benefits," said Dr. David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund. "We have to look at the root causes of this disconnect and invest our health-care dollars in ways that will allow us to live longer while enjoying better health and greater productivity."

US health care: Spending a lot, getting the least


Ranking 37th — Measuring the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0910064#t=article


Health Care Outcomes in States Influenced by Coverage, Disparities
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...-in-states-influenced-by-coverage-disparities


One explanation for the health disadvantage of the United States relative to other high-income countries might be deficiencies in health services. Although the United States is renowned for its leadership in biomedical research, its cutting-edge medical technology, and its hospitals and specialists, problems with ensuring Americans’ access to the system and providing quality care have been a long-standing concern of policy makers and the public (Berwick et al., 2008; Brook, 2011b; Fineberg, 2012). Higher mortality rates from diseases, and even from transportation-related injuries and homicides, may be traceable in part to failings in the health care system.

The United States stands out from many other countries in not offering universal health insurance coverage. In 2010, 50 million people (16 percent of the U.S. population) were uninsured (DeNavas-Walt et al., 2011). Access to health care services, particularly in rural and frontier communities or disadvantaged urban centers, is often limited. The United States has a relatively weak foundation for primary care and a shortage of family physicians (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2009; Grumbach et al., 2009; Macinko et al., 2007; Sandy et al., 2009). Many Americans rely on emergency departments for acute, chronic, and even preventive care (Institute of Medicine, 2007a; Schoen et al., 2009b, 2011). Cost sharing is common in the United States, and high out-of-pocket expenses make health care services, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies increasingly unaffordable (Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance System, 2011; Karaca-Mandic et al., 2012). In 2011, one-third of American households reported problems paying medical bills (Cohen et al., 2012), a problem that seems to have worsened in recent years (Himmelstein et al., 2009). Health insurance premiums are consuming an increasing proportion of U.S. household income (Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance System, 2011).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154484/


Once again, U.S. has most expensive, least effective health care system in survey

A report released Monday by a respected think tank ranks the United States dead last in the quality of its health-care system when compared with 10 other western, industrialized nations, the same spot it occupied in four previous studies by the same organization. Not only did the U.S. fail to move up between 2004 and 2014 -- as other nations did with concerted effort and significant reforms -- it also has maintained this dubious distinction while spending far more per capita ($8,508) on health care than Norway ($5,669), which has the second most expensive system.

"Although the U.S. spends more on health care than any other country and has the highest proportion of specialist physicians, survey findings indicate that from the patients’ perspective, and based on outcome indicators, the performance of American health care is severely lacking," the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based foundation that promotes improved health care, concluded in its extensive analysis. The charts in this post are from the report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...care-system-in-survey/?utm_term=.3bea55276072


US healthcare system ranks 50th out of 55 countries for efficiency
http://www.beckershospitalreview.co...-50th-out-of-55-countries-for-efficiency.html


he U.S. healthcare system notched another dubious honor in a new comparison of its quality to the systems of 10 other developed countries: its rank was dead last.

The new study by the Commonwealth Fund ranks the U.S. against seven wealthy European countries and Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It's a follow-up of previous surveys published in 2010, 2007, 2006 and 2004, in all of which the U.S. also ranked last.

Although the U.S. ranked in the middle of the pack on measures of effectiveness, safety and coordination of care, it ranked dead last on access and cost, by a sufficient margin to rank dead last overall. The breakdowns are in the chart above.

Conservative pundits hastened to explain away these results after the report was published. See Aaron Carroll for a gloss on the "zombie arguments" put forth against the clear evidence that the U.S. system falls short.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-us-healthcare-system-20140617-column.html

U.S. Health Care Ranked Worst in the Developed World
http://time.com/2888403/u-s-health-care-ranked-worst-in-the-developed-world/

 

[fncceo]

So ... I repeat, offer to do their job for less money and fix the system. It might mean cutting into your Internet posting time, but sacrifices must be made.

 

[Andylusion]

Imagine scraping by on just 250k a day ? Poor bastard, he must do it for the love of humanity.

Honestly, if you think running an insurance company is so easy, and you would be willing to do it for $20,000 a year or whatever you think is reasonable..... then go do that.

I know people who started insurance companies. We have a local company right here where I live.

If it's so easy, and CEOs should not be compensated.... start your own, and prove your claims. Let's see you do it.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

So ... I repeat, offer to do their job for less money and fix the system. It might mean cutting into your Internet posting time, but sacrifices must be made.

You miss the point in spectacular fashion.
Their jobs are not needed,they fulfil no useful purpose and this is recognised by the rest of the World.

 

[fncceo]

So ... I repeat, offer to do their job for less money and fix the system. It might mean cutting into your Internet posting time, but sacrifices must be made.

You miss the point in spectacular fashion.
Their jobs are not needed,they fulfil no useful purpose and this is recognised by the rest of the World.

Simon Stevens, politician and manager of British Health gets a pawltry $250,000 a year. He's really taking one for the team.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

So ... I repeat, offer to do their job for less money and fix the system. It might mean cutting into your Internet posting time, but sacrifices must be made.

You miss the point in spectacular fashion.
Their jobs are not needed,they fulfil no useful purpose and this is recognised by the rest of the World.

Simon Stevens, politician and manager of British Health gets a pawltry $250,000 a year. He's really taking one for the team.

Overpaid.

 

[SYTFE]

OMG, people becoming wealthy from their own talents!

"Talents"

 

[fncceo]

Their jobs are not needed

So, explain if you will, how any company that is dedicated to fleecing the consumer for all it can would spend millions of their ill-gotten gain to hire a guy to run a company if his job wasn't needed?

Is this philanthropy for graduates of Harvard Business School?

 

[Andylusion]

OMG, people becoming wealthy from their own talents!

"Talents"

If you think having the ability to run and manage a fortune 500 company, isn't a 'talent'.... then by all means prove it by doing it yourself. Good luck with that.

 

[MaryL]

I have epilepsy. I need medication for it. Phenobarbital used cost 50 cents with co pay. Generic without co pay it was like 10 dollars. But since Obamacare, it went up to (with co pay) 60 dollars. With NO explanation. What used to be a common drug (phenobarbital actually used to cost less than aspirin ) is now a weirdly esoteric one that demands HUGE money to offset high cost of manufacture over night. How does this happen? What madness is this?