If You Support Universal Health, You Must be an America Hater

M. G. Piety writes about her experience of health care in Denmark, Canada, and the U.S. and American prideful resignation to failure (click on the title of this post for the complete essay):

Throughout the three years I lived in Canada, and the eight years I lived in Denmark, I would periodically return to the U.S. to see family and friends. I would regale my American acquaintances with stories of what it was like to live in a land with little to no poverty, absurdly cheap to outright free higher education, a generous minimum wage and free government healthcare. I was surprised and even hurt to find that instead of inspiring my listeners to lobby for such things themselves, I was branded an “America hater.” My hope that we might bring the quality of life indicators in the U.S. up to, or at least approaching, those of every other economically developed nation was viewed not, as I had conceived it myself, as an expression of fervent patriotism, but as outright treachery. How dare I say that anyone anywhere in the world was actually living better than people in the U.S!

Health Care in Other Countries: Japan

New York Times "Prescriptions":

Timothy Stoltzfus Jost is a law professor at Washington and Lee University and frequently writes on comparative health care policy. His work includes an examination of insurance coverage in Switzerland and a comparison of the Swiss and Dutch systems. He spoke to the freelance writer Anne Underwood.

BY THE NUMBERS
Switzerland

• Life expectancy: 82 years (USA: 78)
• Infant mortality: 4 per 1,000 live births (7)
• Health spending as a percentage of GDP: 11.3 (15)
• Percentage of health spending that is private: 40 (54)
• Doctors per 10,000 people: 40 (26)

Source: World Health Organization.

Q. The Swiss health care system relies on public-private approaches that have been recommended as models for the United States. What are the similarities?

A. In 1996, Switzerland instituted an individual mandate by which people are legally required to purchase health insurance in a competitive market. People buy coverage from private insurers, and the government provides subsidies for those who can’t afford coverage. About a third of the population receives subsidies.

Q. Is there an employer mandate, too?

A. No, it’s an individual mandate. Group health insurance does not exist in Switzerland.

Q. That’s a major difference between the Swiss system and most of the proposals in Congress. Are there others?

A. The most important difference is that health insurance in Switzerland is provided by nonprofit insurers — though some are affiliated with for-profit companies that offer supplemental policies along the lines of Medigap in the United States. The basic benefit package is defined by law and is quite generous. Maximum drug prices are regulated.

Q. Do many people buy supplemental insurance?

A. About a third of the population purchases voluntary supplemental insurance that covers things like private hospital rooms and dental benefits.

Q. Do the Swiss have a choice among policies and insurance companies?

A. They do. The policies differ mainly on deductibles. The standard annual deductible is 300 Swiss francs, or about $200 for adults. There is no deductible for children under 18. Individuals can reduce their premiums by electing plans with higher deductibles — up to 2,500 Swiss francs, or about $2,000. Once the deductible has been met, you pay coinsurance of 10 percent of covered expenses, up to a maximum of 700 Swiss francs. For brand-name prescription drugs, you pay 20 percent of the price if there’s a generic equivalent.

There are also some managed care plans, in which about 12 percent of the people are enrolled.

Q. In the United States, it can be quite confusing trying to purchase an insurance policy on your own. How do the Swiss navigate the system? Is there a national insurance exchange like the one that’s being proposed here — a sort of marketplace where it’s easy for people to go and compare policies?

A. There is no insurance exchange, but Internet comparison sites are available and forms are standardized to minimize switching costs. Most people, however, stay with their insurer and seldom switch.

Q. Are the policies expensive?

A. Yes. In 2004, 40 percent of households — or one third of individuals — received subsidies.

Q. Is there a public option in Switzerland?

A. There is no government-run plan to compete with the private nonprofit plans. But health insurance is considered social insurance. It’s not a for-profit enterprise.

Q. Can the Swiss go to any doctor they want?

A. For the most part, although there are some managed care plans with networks. Otherwise, the Swiss have a free choice of physicians and specialists. There is no “gatekeeper” system limiting their access to specialists.

Q. What does the Swiss health system do particularly well?

A. They’ve achieved near universal coverage. But even before the reform, 96 percent of the population was covered. They’re a very risk-averse society. The culture is that you just don’t go uninsured. Now, with reform, they’re close to 99 percent. But the country is still struggling with how to handle individuals who fail to comply with the mandate — mainly the poor and recent immigrants.

Q. How is the quality of care?

A. The quality of care is excellent. Waiting times are not reported to be a serious problem in Switzerland, and most people can get the services they need quite expeditiously. Modern, high-technology services are readily available. Coverage of some new drugs and procedures, however, is reviewed for effectiveness, and some drugs and procedures available in other countries may not be available in Switzerland if they are not considered to be cost-effective.

Q. What is your biggest criticism of the Swiss system?

A. It hasn’t done well at controlling costs. Switzerland is second only to the United States in the percent of GDP spent on health care. It’s also second to the United States in the rate of health care inflation. Probably the most important reason is that Switzerland is a wealthy nation, and wealthy nations spend more on medical care. But a particular problem is that the Swiss use more health care resources than even we do in the United States, with more doctors, hospitalizations and certain high-tech procedures.

Q. So competition among companies doesn’t keep prices down?

A. In theory, insurers compete with each other to bring down prices. In fact, it doesn’t work all that well. There is also enough wiggle room in the system that insurers are able to cherry-pick — to attract enrollees who are good risks and get rid of those at higher risk. As long as insurers have control over the plan design and some control over the premium classifications, they can manipulate the risk pool. For example, if they give good service to the healthy and less adequate service to the less healthy, the less healthy may try to move on to another insurer.

Q. What is the most important lesson Americans should learn from the Swiss system?

A. You can achieve universal coverage through an individual mandate, coupled with subsidies for people who can’t afford health insurance. But it’s not going to get you cost control unless you enact further measures.

By Anne Underwood
September 18, 2009

Health Care in Other Countries: Canada

New York Times "Prescriptions":

Theodore R. Marmor is professor emeritus of public policy and political science at Yale University and a former fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He is the author of “The Politics of Medicare” (Aldine Transaction, 2000). He spoke to freelance writer Sarah Arnquist.

BY THE NUMBERS
Canada

• Life expectancy: 81 years (USA: 78)
• Infant mortality: 5 per 1,000 live births (7)
• Health spending as a percentage of GDP: 10 (15)
• Percentage of health spending that is private: 30 (54)
• Doctors per 10,000 people: 19 (26)

Source: World Health Organization.

Q. How does the Canadian system provide health care at lower cost than the American system?

A. Canada’s national health insurance, called Medicare, provides hospital and physician insurance to all Canadian citizens. It does not provide health care directly from government hospitals or through publicly employed physicians. Imagine 10 provincial nonprofit health insurance plans without deductibles, co-insurance or co-payments for medically prescribed treatment.

Canada pays for more hospital days and doctor visits per capita than the United States but spends about 40 percent less. Canadians pay their doctors, nurses and other medical personnel less, and provide fewer very expensive equipment and services. Open heart surgery, for example, would cost about 30 percent less in Toronto than in Chicago. The lower supply of expensive equipment means Canadians wait somewhat longer for those services, but in recent years improved management has reduced waiting lists for services like M.R.I. scans. Canada has more general practice doctors per capita than the United States does, so basic office visits are considerably less costly. Private spending, which is about 30 percent of all Canadian health spending, has increased more rapidly than public expenditures over the past 40 years.

The final reason Canada has lower costs is that the provincial governments are responsible for financing health care and directly face the pressure of rising health costs. They must act to control the costs because other government services compete for public funding.

Q. What does the Canadian health system do particularly well?

A. Two features stand out. One is that the financing of medical care is extraordinarily simple for patients, physicians and hospitals. Patients face no bills for acute services and no co-payments. Doctors are paid electronically each month according to a set payment rate, and the hospitals must follow a set budget. Bankruptcy from medical bills, insurance disputes and billing confusion do not exist as problems.

The second strength is clarity about the purposes public health insurance serves and for many Canadians a sense of pride that access to medical care is not treated as a market transaction. Medical care is allocated more by ability to benefit than by ability to pay, however, disparities in medical use still exist between people of different classes and educational backgrounds.

Q. What is your biggest criticism of it?

A. The continued nastiness of federal-provincial negotiations about the shared financing of Medicare is one unappealing feature of the Canadian system. This dual responsibility leads to endless blaming between the national and provincial governments for the pressures of medical expenditures on the budgets of other public programs and tax levels. This, in turn, has partly prevented Canada from handling drug costs in the uncomplicated Medicare program.

Q. What is the most important lesson Americans should learn from the Canadian system?

A. Until the 1960s, Canada was very similar to the United States in its medical, hospital, economic and social context. Canada’s experience since then demonstrates that it is possible to have public health insurance that largely fulfills the explicit purposes set out in the Canada Health Act of 1984: universal insurance, comprehensive hospital and physician benefits (without hidden insurance policy constraints), portable coverage across the nation, clear accountability through the political process and no significant financial barriers to care.

By Sarah Arnquist
August 14, 2009

Health Care in Other Countries: France

New York Times "Prescriptions":

Victor G. Rodwin is a professor of health policy and management at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and co-director of the World Cities Project, International Longevity Center-USA. He teaches courses on health system comparisons and has widely published on the French health care system. He spoke with the blog contributors Sarah Arnquist and Anne Underwood.

BY THE NUMBERS
France

• Life expectancy: 81 years (USA: 78)
• Infant mortality: 4 per 1,000 live births (7)
• Health spending as a percentage of GDP: 11 (15)
• Percentage of health spending that is private: 20 (54)
• Doctors per 10,000 people: 34 (26)

Source: World Health Organization.

Q. In 2000, the World Health Organization ranked the French health system as the best over all in the world. Do you agree?

A. I question the W.H.O. methodology, which has serious problems with data reliability and the standards of comparison. A study I would take more seriously is one published last year by Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee in the journal Health Affairs. They examined avoidable mortality — that is, deaths whose risk of occurrence would be far lower if the population had access to appropriate health care interventions. In that study, based on data for the year 2000, France was also ranked No. 1, with the lowest rate of avoidable deaths. The United States was last, in 19th place, with the highest rate of avoidable deaths. That’s a severe indictment of our health care system in my judgment and calls attention, quite justifiably, to the high performance of the French health care system.

Q. That finding implies that the French have good access to health care. Do they?

A. On most measures, they do. They don’t do a better job of cancer screening than we do. But when it comes to timely access to primary care, the French are superb.

An important and well-recognized measure is avoidable hospitalizations. People should not end up in the hospital for failure to manage routine, controllable conditions such as asthma, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes or congestive heart failure. Based on studies with my colleagues Michael Gusmano and Daniel Weisz, the United States has exceedingly high rates of avoidable hospitalizations compared with Britain, Germany or France. Comparing Paris and Manhattan, we have 2.5 times the rate of avoidable hospitalizations that they do in Paris.

Moreover, when it comes to specialty care, the French also have ready access. For example, my colleagues and I found that contrary to conventional wisdom, the French provide higher rates of bypass surgery and angioplasty than we do.

Q. As I understand the French health care system, doctors are private, but patients are enrolled in national health insurance. Is it sort of like Medicare for all?

A. Very much so. It’s not government run but government financed. Like Medicare and Social Security, it is funded by compulsory payroll taxes with some income tax contributions. But doctors work predominantly in private, office-based, fee-for-service practices, and there is a mix of public and private hospitals. The main difference from Medicare is that the entire resident population is covered and the benefit package is more generous.

Almost the entire population has some degree of private supplementary insurance, too, much like Medigap policies for Medicare beneficiaries in the United States, to provide better coverage for certain services and to cover a portion of co-insurance.

Q. So it’s not a single-payer system.

A. That’s correct, but it operates much like one. In France, nobody has a choice of insurer for basic coverage. There are three major plans — one for most people who are employed (77 to 78 percent of the population), a smaller one for agricultural workers (4 to 5 percent), and another small one for the self-employed (6 to 7 percent). In addition, there are some very small plans — for railroad workers, the clergy and so forth. But all of these health insurance programs operate under the same rules. Like Medicare, they can’t turn you down for preexisting conditions. They can’t terminate you if you change your job. And they can’t stop paying when your expenses exceed a certain amount.

Q. If the French system resembles Medicare, does that mean that it also faces the problem of rising costs?

A. Yes, all health care systems face the pressures caused by expensive new medical technologies and prescription drugs. Since there are no enforceable budget ceilings on French national health care expenditures, annual increases tend to exceed spending targets, which in turn leads to frequent cries that the system is “unsustainable.” Nonetheless, the French do a better job of controlling health care costs than we do. They spend about half as much per person on health care ($3,200), and spending accounts for 11 percent of the French gross domestic product, versus 17 percent in this country.

Q. How do they control health care costs?

A. Three ways. First, the government negotiates prices for doctors, hospitals and prescription drugs. Second, France has far fewer private health insurers, so the system requires less expenditure on administrative costs for marketing, underwriting and managing complex reimbursement rules. Third, France’s investor-owned insurance sector is far smaller than in the United States, and its medical-industrial complex is far less powerful, so the government can negotiate stronger cost controls.

Q. But you also said the French have no choice in their plan. Americans seem to want choice.

A. The French have no choice among insurers for the basic plan. But French National Health Insurance gives them more choice of doctors and hospitals than the average American has.

Q. Does insurance cover the entire cost of an office visit, or are there additional charges?

A. There are no deductibles. French National Health Insurance typically pays 70 percent of an office visit. A G.P. typically charges the patient 30 percent of the $35 fee, and a specialist will charge 30 percent of the $45 fee. But co-insurance is waived for all patients with serious chronic medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart disease or any other medical condition requiring more than $100 per month in payments.

Most physicians in private practice accept negotiated N.H.I. fees. However, in large cities and for most subspecialties, 50 percent to 80 percent of physicians have chosen to “extra bill.” These physicians must pay higher premiums for their own health insurance coverage (as subscribers of the fund for the self-employed). Most of their patients can use their supplemental policies to cover some of these additional costs. But such extra billing does create hardship for people with few resources, who forgo seeing these specialists and must therefore go to hospital outpatient departments or to health centers. That’s one of the big issues now.

Q. Are the insurance companies nonprofit?

A. All health insurance funds that provide benefits under the national plan are legally private nonprofit organizations. The companies that provide supplemental insurance are a mix of for-profit and nonprofit entities. But they represent only 8 percent of total health care expenditures. It’s a smaller industry because benefits under French N.H.I. are extensive. Prescription drugs, for example, are covered exceedingly well. What’s not covered well is dental care and vision care.

Q. Is there rationing of care?

A. There is no explicit health care rationing in France. There are no waiting lists for specialized hospital treatments. There is very easy access, perhaps too easy, to specialized services. An important characteristic of the French system is that the sicker you are, the better you’re reimbursed.

Q. What does the French system do particularly well?

A. They have great access to primary care. In addition, they make specialty care available to anyone needing it. They have excellent prescription drug coverage, and they give extraordinary choice and freedom to people to navigate the system as they see fit.

Q. What’s your the biggest criticism of the French system?

A. There is poor care coordination between general practitioners and specialists, and also between hospitals and patients who move into ambulatory care. It’s a problem for people with chronic diseases.

Q. Medical malpractice has become an issue now in the debate over health care reform in this country. How much of every health care Euro in France goes to pay for malpractice costs?

A. I’ve never seen such an estimate, but even in the U.S. this figure is much smaller than people generally believe — less than 1 percent of health care expenditures.

Q. Doctors in the United States complain about having to practice “defensive medicine,” ordering unnecessary tests just to cover any potential charges of negligence later on. Is that an issue in France?

A. No, this is not an important issue in France for two reasons. First, since 2002 there has been a national no-fault compensation scheme. Second, the number of attorneys per capita in France is far smaller than in the United States.

Q. Have the French achieved universal health care?

A. Yes, the entire population legally residing in France is covered — more than 99 percent of the population. There are always people who fall through the cracks. But they are covered under a special plan that covers people whenever they show up at the E.R., the hospital outpatient department or health center.

Q. Are the French happy with their health care system?

A. Eurobarometer, Harris Interactive and other studies of consumer perceptions have consistently reported high rates of satisfaction among the French — among the highest in the European Union and certainly higher than in the United States. Still, my French colleagues were surprised when the W.H.O. report came out, ranking their system No. 1, because they are typically critical of their system. I don’t know any health system about which you can’t tell a horror story that occurred to a patient. That’s why it is so important to avoid cocktail party anecdotes of health system performance and rather examine evidence in a more systematic fashion.

Q. What key lessons can the United States learn from France?

A. The French health system demonstrates that it is possible to achieve universal coverage without a government-run system that regulates how doctors practice medicine. In fact, U.S. physicians should note that their French colleagues are not constrained by private managed care insurance plans and have greater clinical autonomy.

The French system also demonstrates that in contrast to some single-payer systems, universal coverage does not preclude the existence of private insurers. In France, there’s a whole private insurance sector — not enormous, but big enough — and that’s important for the insurance industry to recognize.

By Anne Underwood and Sarah Arnquist
September 11, 2009

Between the Lines

Displeasure with (Hatred of) Obama (blacks) is helping conservative lawmakers (racist honkies) gain ground in those states (the former Confederacy) where skepticism about his agenda (fear of communist takeover) has fed doubts (paranoia), leading to calls for restraint (lynch mobs).

--Ironic Times

But what have the Panças to do with the Quixotes?

Well, let's to our old Places again, and sleep out the little that's left of the Night. To Morrow is a new Day. Sleep, Sancho, cry'd Don Quixote, sleep, for thou were born to sleep; but I, who was design'd to be still waking, intend before Aurora ushers in the Sun, to give a Loose to my Thoughts, and vent my Conceptions in a Madrigal, that I made last Night unknown to thee.

Michael Pollan Is Sick

More evidence that food writer Michael Pollan is a paid spokesman for the health insurance industry, or perhaps just their useful idiot, comes in today's New York Times. Pollan offers an opinion piece explaining how for-profit health insurance is key to reforming the American diet.

His argument is that new rules preventing denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions will impel the insurance industry to fight against obesity, and their power is necessary in opposing high-fructose corn syrup subsidies.

The incentive, however, already exists, and the source of profits will not change. In fact, by expanding public expenditure, the existing incentives would also expand.

Pollan ignores the fact that obesity is more an issue of poverty and sedentary work and leisure than of diet per se. He ignores the fact that the consequences of obesity (e.g., type 2 diabetes, heart disease, circulatory disease) mostly manifest at a later age, when Medicare is paying. And that suggests that since, as Pollan aptly notes, "the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup", a position it is already in, then it is the government that needs to resolve that conflict — for the public good, not to maximize insurance-company profits.

Pollan legitimizes some of the worst elements in this debate: the concern for private insurance companies (as if they must be accommodated in any change rather than the other way around), and the illogical distraction of "personal responsibility". But to call for empowering Big Insurance in the hope that they will take on Big Food is simply idiotic.

human rights, animal rights, vegetarianism