Health Myth #8: “Nationalized health care would not impact patient waiting times.”
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July 22, 2009Webcast Thursday to Educate Pro-Lifers About the Dangers of Obama’s Health Care
July 22, 2009This is the eighth in a series of commonly believed health myths based upon the research from Fox News analyst James Farrell. And, it’s very interesting to me to hear those in favor of any form of nationalized health insurance (especially “Obamacare”) state that the issue of waiting for care in countries with nationalized health care is a “myth.” Here is just one fact for your and their consideration.
More Information:
Waiting time for elective surgery is lower in the US than in countries with nationalized health care.
In fact, in 2005, only 8% of U.S. patients reported waiting four months or more for elective surgery.
Countries with nationalized health care ALL had higher percentages with waiting times of four months or more, including:
- Australia (19%);
- New Zealand (20%);
- Canada (33%); and
- the United Kingdom (41%).
Source: Commonwealth Fund, “MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: AN INTERNATIONAL UPDATE ON THE COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN HEALTH CARE,” by Karen Davis, Cathy Schoen, Stephen C. Schoenbaum, Michelle M. Doty, Alyssa L. Holmgren, Jennifer L. Kriss, and Katherine K. Shea, May 2007.
Here are the topics for the entire series:
- Health Myth #1: “The U.S. has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world.”
- Health Myth #2: “About 46 million Americans lack access to health insurance.”
- New Analysis of the Myth: “46 Million Americans Without Health Insurance”
- Health Myth #3: “The uninsured can’t afford to buy coverage.”
- Health Myth #4: “Most of the uninsured do not have health insurance because they are not working and so don’t have access to health benefits through an employer.”
- Health Myth #5: “The estimated 45 million people without health insurance lacked health insurance for every day of the year.”
- Health Myth #6: “Government-run universal health care would increase the international competitiveness of U.S. companies.”
- Health Myth #7: “The cost of uncompensated care for the uninsured significantly increases hospital costs.”
- Health Myth #8: “Nationalized health care would not impact patient waiting times.”
- Health Myth #9: “Insurers cover less today than they did in the past.”
- Health Myth #10: “Preventive Medicine Saves Money”
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Um, so your argument is based on the waiting times in the specific area of *elective surgery*? The… heck? I mean, of *course* elective surgery can be acquired more quickly in a private system than a public one — because it’s elective, and thus logically considered a lower priority in a nationalized system.
Anyway, the actual study chosen was a strange choice for this page. Its abstract, summarizing its findings, begins, “Despite having the most costly health care system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.” I mean, the study could very well be biased (in which case, why the heck did you choose it?), but that aside, the question is: Why the heck did you choose it?
More from the study: “The US and Canada rank lowest on the prompt accessibility of appointments with physicians.” Think about that in light of the existence of all those other countries the paper looked at. Canada could very well be the worst in that area, but our being second-worst doesn’t make us the winner.