Healthcare Quality:
How US Compares

How good is healthcare quality in the US? We’ll help you answer this question using two standards available in the American system – institutional public health and the private free market.

However, the key question is, "If you have a serious health issue, where do you want to get treatment?"

Institutional Public Health:

The public health field uses standards of the World Health Organization. By this measure,many authorities think quality of care in the US is mediocre, overpriced and unavailable for too many people.

The WHO rates the US as 37th out of 191 nations. This is based on criteria such as average life expectancy, infant mortality, per capita health expenditures and the number of physicians per 100,000 population. WHO officials favor systems that offer care to all with costs paid by government.

Free Market Light:

In a free marketplace, the basic market factors are cost, quality and speed of service. Usually, a buyer can optimize any two of those benefits at the expense of the third.

The US private medical system is not a full free marketplace. It is clouded by the fact that most consumers have not been in control of their affairs. They have not made decisions based on value. Governmental programs and regulations have both distorted the marketplace and increased costs.

In the American private system, the market factors that might normally be sought and applied by consumers would be:

• access to quality care;

• lower cost and best value:

• effective, courteous delivery of services from providers; and,

• accurate and timely information and administrative services.

Globally, the US has the most expensive medical system, with an average annual cost per family of more than $12,600. A prominent cause of such high costs is that buyers have not sought best value. Most Americans agree that costs are too high.

The Great Debate:

Almost two-thirds of people in the US agree that we need change in our system. Our dilemma is what kind of change? Better access to care? Better service? Lower costs? Better information? Faster and more accurate administration services?

Less than half of the American public think that government-controlled healthcare is preferable. But, a majority of Americans like the choice offered by the private free market.

Our great debate is whether we should seek a private market-based solution or turn to a public government controlled plan.

Universal Healthcare - A False Promise?

Many public health authorities and politicians favor a government plan. Advocates base their support for a government plan on our need to provide access to care for the 45 to 47 million uninsured. To discover more about these uninsured, go to The Uninsured: Who Are They?

Proponents claim that a government plan will reduce our costs for care. It will offer free access for everyone.

What an attractive idea! Great for individuals who have been denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Wonderful for families who cannot afford insurance coverage. Relief for employers who are struggling to provide benefits to employees.

For a disclosure of how government care has worked, go to National Health Insurance: A Solution Or Not?

Contrary to the promises, experience has shown that government-controlled care does not deliver the three basic free market benefits of cost, quality and speed of service. In the end, consumers will not have their choice of two out of three basic benefits. They may not even see one.

The Most Innovative System

Although we have high costs, care giving errors and system deficiencies, the US enjoys the most innovative and technically advanced medical system in the world. If you have access to a doctor and time to wait, you might get equal care for the flu or some other common illness in Canada or England.

But, if you are faced with a serious health issue and a critical time limit, there is no better place to get care than the US. Witness the Canadians who come to the US and pay out of pocket just to get timely care that means life quality, if not life itself.

The traveling TB patient, Andrew Speaks, recognized that truth. On a honeymoon trip to the Mediterranean, Speaks was notified that he was diagnosed with a strain of tuberculosis that could be fatal. He disregarded non-travel requests from the US Communicable Disease Center to get to America. Who could blame him? He thought his life was at stake!

What's A Real Solution - How Can You Improve Healthcare Quality?

Historically, most Americans have not favored governmental controls of medical care. The free market option rations services as economic functions of cost and choice as determined by each consumer patient.

No one will mind your healthcare business better than you will if you make it your business and for as long as you keep it your business.

Can you improve healthcare quality and reduce costs? Yes. How? To see an explanation of solutions and available options, go to Health Solutions.