Health Care Spending Vs. Average Life Expectancy

[metta]

To find the US, please see the very top in Orange...



The left of the cart - how much each country spends on health care per person

The right shows average life expectancy in each country

The thickness of the lines indicate how many doctor visits per year the average citizen gets.

http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.html



http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archiv...-us-spends-on-health-care-than-anyplace-else/

 

[nialltt]

I loved this article from National Geographic. Go Canada!

 

[seven2go]

5 will get you 500 it's eating habits that make the difference.

 

[SilverWolf]

Japan beats Canada!

They live longer than everybody else on the chart wow

 

[BrownBoi89]

They live longer than everybody else on the chart wow

And according to this chart, they spend less on health care than the average person, which is what I remember learning this term. It was either in health psychology, cultural psychology, or both.

 

[CudDULL]

Wow pretty cool to look at it like that. It gives good insight on how shitty our health care is I guess lol. Stripper like me doesn't get benefits D: Moe and I just self examine each other when we end up with a rash of some sort.

 

[Spiff]

It's consistent with the overall American economic philosophy. Spend more = get less.

 

[vulgar_newcomer]

Someone needs to shove this graph up in front of the USA politicians who claim how bad health care is in Countries with National healthcare systems.

 

[star-warrior]

Prevention is better than cure.

I think in the US, due to the cost, people don't really want to see their doctors until its too late.

I live in the UK so all my treatments are subsidised by the state. Age 0 to 16 and 60 and above all perscription medication is free. I lie between these and I can get a yearly pre-payment card which allows me to unlimited - yes unlimited - medication so long as a doctor perscribes it. It costs just over £104 for 12 months. But, for those who are adult and don't have a pre-payment card, it costs around £7.40 per prescription item. So, it works out very well if you have 2 or more per month. Diabetics, those with glaucoma and certain other groups of people can get life long prescriptions free due to the nature of their diseases.

Our hospital care is also free on admission, so if we're involved in an accident we don't have to worry about footing the bill...

It is this subsidisation which makes proper medication available to the whole population that has given rise to better quality of life and longevity, IMO.

 

[levenshulme31]

Nice to see that Britain appears to be bang on the average for both spending and longevity. I would also argue that Britain's lower-than-some longevity rate is more down to poor diet / lifestyle choices than lack of healthcare.

It would be intersting to see how much of the US $7290 goes in profits for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I suspect the actual cost of the healtchare provided over there is nearer the $3k mark with the rest going to shareholders.

 

[metta]

I guess that this means that the chart will just get worse and worse for us. Thank you Scrotum Lickers!

Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies

Policyholders are incensed over rate hikes of as much as 39%, which they say come on top of similar increases last year. State insurance regulators say they'll investigate.

Anthem Blue Cross is telling many of its approximately 800,000 customers who buy individual coverage -- people not covered by group rates -- that its prices will go up March 1 and may be adjusted "more frequently" than its typical yearly increases.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Mark Weiss, 63, a Century City podiatrist whose Anthem policy for himself and his wife will rise 35%. The couple's annual insurance bill will jump to $27,336 from $20,184.

That's when Mary Feller of San Rafael learned that the rate for herself and her husband will jump 39%, or $465 a month, driving the couple's annual premium to $19,896 from $14,316.

Feller, 56, said the premium for her 26-year-old daughter also will rise 38%, costing the family an additional $1,572 a year.

As a result, starting March 1, the Fellers' health insurance bill will surpass the family's monthly mortgage payment on their home north of San Francisco.

Broker and insurance industry analysts said the California rate increases will leave individual policyholders with few good options: Anthem subscribers such as the Fellers can switch to a company plan with a higher deductible. Or they can try to switch insurers, a dicey proposition because carriers in the individual market can reject applicants who have preexisting medical conditions.

"It's putting people's backs up against the wall," said Shana Alex Lavarreda, director of health insurance studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. "They are finding new ways to create new problems for consumers."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-insure-anthem5-2010feb05,0,3002094.story

 

[star-warrior]

Thanks for the numbers, metta. I'm just awed at the year amounts they have to pay, especially when you're not getting younger, and that you and/or your partner are no longer working when in old age you need the care most...

I am guess that they write the policies so that people can't easily claim either, making it kinda like fraud but in a ignorant client can be decieved by signing up kinda way...????

 

[seven2go]

I think in the US, due to the cost, people don't really want to see their doctors until its too late.

An office call here.......that's for the privilege of SEEING a doctor......is $163.00.
Add to that for, pretty much, anything.
Let's see......for a minimum worker........can you say death sentence?

That MAY be a bit extreme......but only a bit.......