In yesterday's historic vote in the House Of Representatives backed a
healthcare bill, moving the US one step closer to a reformed healthcare
system. This is great news, and brings the US closer to a fairer,
better regulated and more accessible healthcare system.
However, the vote was close....extremely close in fact. The bill needed
218 votes to get a majority.... it got 220.
3 fewer votes and it would
have failed.
This is a concern, as it means almost half of the Representatives think
the current US healthcare system is better than the proposed reformed
version.
Let's have a quick look at the current system:
Despite the vast amounts of money spent on healthcare in the US, its
healthcare under-performs massively.... many countries that spend half
the amount the US does have healthcare systems that significantly
outperform that of the US.
The
World Health Organization rated the US
healthcare system 1st in expenditure, but only 37th in performance.
This clearly indicates that right now, the US people - taxpayers and
insurance payers - are getting ripped off.
A recent
Harvard study, published in the
American Journal of Public
Health, indicated that approximately
44,800 people in the US die every
year due to lack of health insurance cover. That's a LOT of people
killed by the system's failure to ensure everyone is covered.
The
National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine points out that
the
US is the "only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure
universal coverage". For a country that has long lead the world in so
many areas, this is surely an embarassing state of affairs.
Let's think again about the
44,800 people who die EVERY year due to
lack of health insurance cover. That's a lot of people. It's 10 times
more deaths
every year than there were during the
entire course
of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Republicans have a significantly higher
proportion of people who claim to be "pro Life", yet just
one Republican representative voted in favour of the reforms that could save a lot of these
44,800 lives every year.
One Republican representative, Candice Miller, said "We are going to
have a complete government takeover of our healthcare system faster
than you can say 'this is making me sick'".
This statement, in my
opinion, encapsulates a lot of the irrationality shown by many
opponents of healthcare reform (as does the now legendary quote about
Stephen Hawking and the NHS).
Government takeover of the healthcare system is presented as a bad
thing. But think about it.... if it isn't controlled by the government,
it is controlled by non-elected private (self) interests... by
companies whose first goal is to make money.
Non-profit companies are widespread in terms of hospitals, but not in the health insurance market. Small wonder that
Americans are currently paying over the odds for a sup-par healthcare
system!
The government is elected by the people, so why on Earth shouldn't the
people, through their elected government, have control of their
healthcare system?
How is leaving that control largely in the hands of
private, profit-driven companies preferable?
I'm very glad the House of Representatives backed the bill. The
proposed reforms may not be perfect, but they can't be much further
away from perfect than the current system, which is frankly terrible -
supremely expensive but massively underperforming.
The proposed changes would bring the US system a step closer to the
systems in countries who spend less on healthcare but get better
performance and have much wider access to healthcare.
More "socialised"
healthcare systems work, and work better and more efficiently than the
current mess of conflicting private interests in the US system (there's
evidence from numerous countries demonstrating this), yet "socialised"
is a dirty word to many in the US.
For the sake of the American people, I hope the healthcare reforms get
through the Senate and can start making a difference and saving lives
as soon as possible.
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