42. WHO study2

42.  WHO study2

 

We’ve been discussing the often-quoted WHO study that ranked the US 37^th among 191 countries in healthcare.  This study became the reason that Democrats insisted that America needed Obamacare.  

 

The overall level of healthcare ranking was determined by using the criteria we talked about yesterday:  life expectancy, financial fairness, and distribution of healthcare and responsiveness… and then taking into account things like literacy and overall healthcare expenditures.  Well, consider that the US has a huge problem with malpractice.  Congressman and physician Tom Price from Georgia estimates that 25% of healthcare expenses in the US are due to defensive medicine—tests and treatments that aren’t necessarily needed, but that doctors order to protect themselves from malpractice lawyers.  That makes our healthcare that much more expensive.  So that makes us rank lower.

 

The WHO also used literacy rates, to decide what countries provided the best healthcare.  So the US scored lower overall partly because of our failing education system!  

 

It’s funny that nowhere in the WHO rankings was patient behavior considered.  Smoking, diet, sexually transmitted disease…none of these were considered.  The US was also penalized for all of the money we spend on keeping premature infants alive; and for expensive cardiac bypass operations or dialysis that save lives and keep our friends and family members active for years.  Many of the countries that ranked higher don’t even try to save these people, some leave premature babies to die.

 

So the WHO study penalizes the US for giving patients state of the art technology and treatments, beautiful healthcare facilities and flight-for-life.  They especially don’t like the idea that we give our citizens CHOICES, and that the US free-market allows people the ability to become wealthy enough to take advantage of those choices.  Socialism preaches “fairness” and “equality”.  What they mean is that they want to eliminate exceptionalism and opportunity for excellence.  Think about this the next time you hear Barrack Obama preaching about “fairness”.

(Note: This commentary is by Dr. Jill Vecchio.)