Hi! I hear on the news yesterday that the last issue of "British Medical Journal" has ranked the healthsystems of the World, and according to "British Medical Journal" the Swedish system is the best in the World, and the second best is the Norwegian, and neither is private, and both covers absolutly all of the population - 100%
Tor Førde ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 5:36 PM Subject: RE: [Futurework] Private health care (was E.European...) > To add to the discussion. > > This from the Wall Street Journal (Nov. 12, 03), citing an OECD document. > > The US spends more on health as a percentage of GDP > > (2.7 percent in US vs. 2.1 percent in Canada) > > and has more doctors, > > (2.7 practicing physicians per 1000 people in the US vs. 2.1 in Canada) > > Yet lives are shorter > > (76.8 years in the US vs 79.4 in Canada) > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 3:38 AM > To: 'Brad McCormick, Ed.D.'; 'pete' > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] Private health care (was E.European...) > > > Brad, > > I've already told you that you are too good to be anxious about > small things. > > At the end of 20 years, your doctor will probably retire, so you > will have to get used to another. > > Groups of doctors are better than single doctors, for they can > fill in for each other. There's always a doctor there when you > need him. > > The difference between entities such as Kaiser and (say) the > Canadian National Health Service, is that Kaiser has to compete. > If standards go down they will lose members to a competing > service. > > Standards have apparently dropped in the UK even though they > continue to pour money into it. > > You can choose a private doctor and I understand a lot do, but > when the doctor feels you need hospital, you go into a NHS > hospital (if you can get in). > > Harry > > ******************************************** > Henry George School of Social Science > of Los Angeles > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > Tel: 818 352-4141 -- Fax: 818 353-2242 > http://haledward.home.comcast.net > ******************************************** > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brad > McCormick, Ed.D. > Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 5:40 AM > To: pete > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Futurework] Private health care (was E.European...) > > pete wrote: > > On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, Harry Pollard > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >>Why do you see the private sector is terrible at healthcare? > I've > >>already described the Kaiser-Permanente system, which I would > say was > >>the equal of any other in the world - private or government. > [snip] > > First, a personal story: Yesterday at work the head of HR sent > around an email saying that as of January 1 the company is > changing to a new healthcare provider (Old: Aetna and Oxford; > new: Blue Cross/Blue Shild). It was about 1 PM, and I was > thinking I might get thru the day without taking an Anti-anxiety > pill, but that email raised my anxiety level way up because I > worried that my current doctors might not acept the new > insurance. I called the medical group I use, and they said they > accept BC/BS "PPO" and "Identity" > plans. I emailed the head of HR and asked if our new insurance > was one of these. At first the head of HR replied that I would > find out at the enrollment meeting on Nov 20, which did not help > calm me down, but a while later I received another email saying > that the plan was one the medical group I go to accepts. My > anxiety level started going back down. I thanked the head of HR > *profusely* for having checked this out for me. > > Now, some thoughts: > > The private sector. Technically, or, as I would prefer to say, > "formally", Kaiser-Permanente, Oxford, BC/BS et al. > are private sector. But, from the point of view of me as a > patient or my doctor as a member of a "medical group" > which itself may have well over 100 employees, these entities are > powerful bureaucracies with which we as individuals interact much > the same way as we would interact with a government agency. > Functionally ("materially"), I think that it is misleading to > call these non-governmental bureaucratic institutions "private > sector". My idea of private sector would be the old doctor in > individual private practice. I do remember when my dentist > worked alone. > > I think there are at least 3 "sectors": (1) Institutional-A (AKA > "government"), (2) Institutional-B (non-"government" > corporate institutions which have powerful influence over the > shape of individuals' lives), and (3) Private. > > Persons should not have to live in fear that they will no longer > be able to see the doctor they have been seeing for 20 years > ("You can always pay out of pocket, fella." "Not really, because > the fee structure is based on insurance reimbursement rates, not > what average working persons could pay out of pocket...."). > > I have previously said I think that if our social system really > started encouraging healthful life style, and if medical research > was oriented more toward high-leverage problems, we could > minimize the problem of having to ration health care. > ("low leverage" are things like > 50 person team 50 hour operations to try to separate one pair of > conjoined twins, etc.). > > Government or "private", we live in a > world that requires high levels of social coordination, don't we? > Of course that too is something social policies could try to > reduce over time. > > And a stitch in time does often save nine. > > (Was this worth writing? I hope I did not waste your time.) > > \brad mccormick > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.541 / Virus Database: 335 - Release Date: 11/14/2003 > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
