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Texas Statistics: Did You Know...

Where do the 2008 presidential candidates stand on healthcare?

How does the United States Compare?

Texas Statistics: Did You Know...

Information from the City of Dallas Health Dignity Report, January 2007.

Where do the 2008 presidential candidates stand on healthcare?

Democrat

Barack Obama
• National insurance pool & catastrophic insurance.
• Employers are going to have to pay or play.
• Need political will to accomplish universal coverage.
• Address minority health needs by more coverage & targeting.
• Healthcare system is broken without lifetime employment.
• Health care tied to balancing costs and taxes nation wide.
• Allowing seniors to bulk purchase will save taxpayers' money.
• Crises happen in our lives and healthcare is necessary.
• Believes health care is a right, not a privilege for the few.
• Allow prescription drug re-importation.
• Will expand health coverage & allow meds to be re-imported.
• Ensure access to basic care.
• Voted YES on increasing Medicaid rebate for producing generics.
• Voted YES on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug.


Republican

John McCain
• Matching funds for seniors citizens’ prescription drugs.
• Expand health insurance to 11 million uninsured children.
• Keep health care promises to aging veterans.
• Address powerlessness when faced with health care crises.
• “Patient rights” means value human life over dollars.
• Expand medical savings; community health; & tax deductions.
• Patient Rights: access; MDs over HMOs; grievance process.
• Allow paying extra for choice of doctors & care.
• Full doctor-patient discussion even when it costs HMO.

How does the United States Compare?

England Healthcare: 1948
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Clement Attlee's Labour government created the National Health Service (NHS), based on the proposals of the Beveridge Report, prepared in 1942. A White Paper was published in 1943 and was followed by considerable debate, and resistance organised by the British Medical Association. The structure of the NHS in England and Wales was established by the National Health Service Act 1946 (1946 Act) and the new arrangements were launched on 5 July 1948. This was under health and housing minister Aneurin Bevan. Contrary to popular belief, the founding principles of the NHS called for its funding out of general taxation, not through national insurance.

Services would henceforth be provided by the same doctors and the same hospitals, but:

* services were provided free at the point of use;
* services were financed from central taxation;
* everyone was eligible for care (even people temporarily resident or visiting the country).

[ Read more about the NHS ]

Canada Healthcare: 1946
Canada has a federally sponsored, publicly funded Medicare system. Each province may opt out, though none currently do. Canada's system is known as a single payer system, where basic services are provided by private doctors, with the entire fee paid for by the government at the same rate. These rates are negotiated between the provincial governments and the province's medical associations, usually on an annual basis. A physician cannot charge a fee for a service that is higher than the negotiated rate - even to patients who are not covered by the publicly funded system - unless he opts out of billing the publicly funded system altogether. Other areas of health care, such as dentistry and optometry, are wholly private.

[ Read more about Canada Healthcare ]

Australia: 1984
In Australia the current system, known as Medicare, was instituted in 1984. It coexists with a private health system. Medicare is funded partly by a 1.5% income tax levy (with exceptions for low-income earners), but mostly out of general revenue. An additional levy of 1% is imposed on high-income earners without private health insurance. As well as Medicare, there is a separate Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that heavily subsidises prescription medications.

Cuba:
Cuba has a wholly government-controlled system that consumes a large proportion of the nation's GDP. The system does work on a for profit basis in treating patients from abroad. Cuba attracts patients mostly from Latin America and Eastern Europe by offering care of comparable quality to a developed nation but at much lower prices. While the government system is free to all, patients frequently pay out-of-pocket for drugs that are in short supply in the public system.

Finland:
In Finland, the publicly funded medical system is funded by taxation and every citizen has state-funded health insurance. The system is comprehensive and compulsory, like in Sweden, and a small patient fee is also taken.

France:
In France, most doctors remain in private practice; there are both private and public hospitals. Social Security consists of several public organizations, distinct from the state government, with separate budgets that refunds patients for care in both private and public facilities. It generally refunds patients 70% of most health care costs, and 100% in case of costly or long-term ailments. Supplemental coverage may be bought from private insurers, most of them nonprofit, mutual insurers. Until recently, social security coverage was restricted to those who contributed to social security (generally, workers or retirees), excluding some poor segments of the population; the government of Lionel Jospin put into place the "universal health coverage". In some systems, patients can also take private health insurance, but choose to receive care at public hospitals, if allowed by the private insurer.

Germany:
Germany has a universal multi-payer system with two main types of health insurance: "Compulsory health insurance" (Gesetzlich) and "Private" (Privat).

Sweden:
In Sweden, the publicly funded medical system is comprehensive and compulsory. Physician and hospital services take a small patient fee, but their services are funded through the taxation scheme of the County Councils of Sweden.

Italy:
In Italy the public system has the unique feature of paying its doctors a fee per capita per year, a salary system, that does not reward repeat visits, testing, and referrals.

United States:
The United States is alone among developed nations with the absence of a universal healthcare system. The U.S. health system does, however, have significant publicly funded components. Medicare for the elderly and disabled with a historical work record, and Medicaid for indigents, provides taxation-financed coverage. Together, these programs make the government the largest health insurer in the nation. In 2001, only the governments of Iceland and Norway spent more per capita on healthcare. This care is generally provided by privately owned hospitals or physicians in private practice, but public hospitals are common in older cities. Medicare is a federal government program providing coverage to people age 65 or older. Medicaid is a federal and state program providing coverage to low-income and disabled persons. The Department of Veterans Affairs directly provides health care to injured U.S. military veterans and current servicemen and women through a nationwide network of government hospitals (non-injured veterans are often not covered). A significant and growing number of people cannot obtain health insurance through their employer, or are unable to afford individual coverage. Currently, it is estimated that 17% of the U.S. population is uninsured. This number is growing rapidly as increasing numbers of employers cannot afford the ever-growing costs of the insurance. For those that continue to provide employer-based programs, the employee percentage share is increasing year by year. The cost of medicines is frequently not covered by insurances and it is common for U.S. citizens to travel to Canada and Mexico for drug purchases at prices far below those in their home areas. A few states have taken serious steps toward universal health care coverage, most notably Minnesota and Massachusetts, with a recent example being the Massachusetts 2006 Health Reform Statute. Other states, while not attempting to insure all of their residents, cover large numbers of people by reimbursing hospitals and other health-care providers using what is generally characterized as a charity care scheme; New Jersey is perhaps the best example of a state that employs the latter strategy. It is typical for most forms of general liability insurance sold in the U.S., such as home, automobile, or business insurance to have a significant premium allocation for medical damages. The U. S. legal system, which has the highest number of attorneys per 100,000 population of any country in the world, is available to assist in proving liability and collecting the money for medical bills from such insurances.


Read more about healthcare systems