tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439628176985419293.post6082014680539493674..comments2023-11-02T08:28:40.590-04:00Comments on Twenty-Cent Paradigms: Health Care: Doing Less With MoreBill Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01081319025032071808noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439628176985419293.post-90860248381740080252009-03-17T00:42:00.000-04:002009-03-17T00:42:00.000-04:00Thanks for the comment. That's alot to put on tee...Thanks for the comment. That's alot to put on teenage pregnancies. But I do agree that it makes sense to think about how our other social problems contribute to health care costs.Bill Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01081319025032071808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7439628176985419293.post-90597875523725834082009-03-16T03:28:00.000-04:002009-03-16T03:28:00.000-04:00There is an apples and oranges comparison in the s...There is an apples and oranges comparison in the statistics. For cultural reasons, the US has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the developed world by almost an order of magnitude.<BR/><BR/>Teenage pregnancies have a very high incidence of low birth rate babies, premature birth babies, and high infant mortality rates. Premature and high-risk births are the major cause of lower life expectancy numbers in the US and are the cause of expensive medical treatments in pregnancy and infants. Premature births also account for extra medical costs during an entire life. The increased teenage pregnancies also account for the higher US infant mortality rates and lower average life expectancies.<BR/><BR/>A restructuring of medical services costs will not decrease the incidence of teenage births in the US.<BR/><BR/>Normalizing the comparative medical costs for an equivalent number of high-risk teenage pregnancies and births removes a significant amount of the excess costs in the US medical system. <BR/><BR/>A 2000 World Health Organization ranked the US number 1 for the quality and responsiveness of its health services. Canada was ranked 7th.<BR/><BR/>Studies show that outcomes from heart attacks, including life expectancy, are much better in the US than other developed countries with a greater government role in health services, such as Canada.<BR/><BR/>Social costs, which are real costs to a patient and employer, are not included in cost comparisons. For example, wait times for diagnostic procedures and treatments are much shorter, sometimes by months if not years, in the US compared to other countries with a socialized medical system. The delay in treatment (sometimes denial) can affect job efficiency, absenteeism, etc. Moreover, there are social costs to discomfort and increased risks to delay treatments that are not included in medical costs. For example, US doctors tend to use newer, more expensive antibiotics that cover a broader range of bacterial infections as compared to UK doctors. UK doctors use older antibiotics, which are cheaper and less effective. In the UK, if the prescribed antibiotic is ineffective, the patient has to take time off to see the doctor for a second time. The dollar value of the social cost of missing work for a second doctor visit is not included in international medical cost comparisons. Additionally, the dollar value of the extra days of discomfort is not included in the medical costs.<BR/><BR/>Properly adjusting the medical costs data for international comparison removes most of the apparent excess costs of medical services in the US. When comparisons are apples to apples in international medical systems, the US looks much better in terms of costs and outcomes.Milton Rechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488660316957122768noreply@blogger.com