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May 22, 2007:
The health care system in the United System is
“a dysfunctional mess,” according to an essay
published in a medical journal by a prominent
ethicist at the National Institutes of Health.
“Politicians who insist otherwise look ignorant,”
according to Dr Ezekiel Emanuel. He wrote in the
May 16, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association: “If a politician declares
that the United States has the best health care
system in the world today, he or she looks
clueless rather than patriotic or authoritative.”
Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, who supports sweeping health
care reform, said the United States spends $6,000
per person a year on health care, an amount that
is over 16% of the nation’s gross domestic product
and more than any other country.
In an interview to the Associated Press, he said
an American’s average life expectancy of 78 ranks
45th in the world, behind Bosnia and Jordan.
Worse, the infant death rate in the United States
6.37 per 1,000 live births – higher than that of
most developed nations.
US President George W Bush has often said that
America has the world’s best healthcare system.
Dr Ezekiel Emanuel’s proposal involves phasing out
Medicaid, Medicare and employer-sponsored health
insurance. According to his plan, all Americans
would get a basic package of insurance, would
choose their insurance carrier and could buy
upgraded coverage. The programme would be funded
by a value-added tax of about 10% on businesses.
Both Democrats and Republicans have claimed that
the United States has the world’s best health care
system. Democrat John Kerry had said so when he
ran for President in 2004, as did Republican Rudy
Giuliani on his Presidential campaign trail in
2007.
David Hogberg, senior policy analyst at the
National Center for Public Policy Research, said a
strong case can be made that the US health care
system is the best. It depends on what measures
you use, and life expectancy is influenced by many
factors other than health care, and nations
measure infant death rates inconsistently, Hogberg
adds.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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