Author
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Topic: If America's So Great, Where's Our Health Care?
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Stargazer
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6061
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posted 24 September 2006 05:23 AM
I thought this was entirely relevant given that I had received an e-mail from a dear friend of mine in Indiana who is sickened by the anti-universal heath care and is clearly being fed propaganda by the US. So this is for her, and any other Americans who want to know why Bush et al are so against 'socialized' health care. quote: An estimated 50 million Americans lack medical insurance, and a similar and rapidly growing number are underinsured. The uninsured are excluded from services, charged more for services, and die when medical care could save them -- an estimated 18,000 die each year because they lack medical coverage.But it's not only the uninsured who suffer. Of the more than 1.5 million bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year, about half are a result of medical bills; of those, three-quarters of filers had health insurance.
quote: Among politicians and pundits, a universal, publicly funded system is off the table. But Americans in increasing numbers know what their leaders seem not to -- that the United States is the only industrialized nation where such stories as Joel's and Kiki's can happen.
quote: The United States spends by far the most on health care per person -- more than twice as much as Europe, Canada, and Japan which all have some version of national health insurance. Yet we are near the bottom in nearly every measure of our health.The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks the U.S. health care system 37th of 190 countries, well below most of Europe, and trailing Chile and Costa Rica. The United States does even worse in the WHO rankings of performance on level of health -- a stunning 72nd. Life expectancy in the U.S. is shorter than in 27 other countries; the U.S. ties with Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia for infant mortality -- ahead of only Latvia among industrialized nations.
If America's So Great, Where's Our Health Care?
From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004
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Abdul_Maria
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11105
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posted 24 September 2006 07:58 AM
agreed !i stopped surfing because i can't afford a bad wipeout. it's bad enough having a shark bite you without waking up in a hospital bed with a $100K bill. so, now i walk, and swim, for exercise. am i getting old ? :-)
From: San Fran | Registered: Nov 2005
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