Reply #13: Do you simply refuse to look stuff up on your own?

[warren pease]

Goddammit. The information's sitting in databases all over the world. All you have to do is dip a ladle into the stew and dish some out.

For example, I just posted a bunch of stuff directly above your post that debunks half the garbage these malevolent propagandist bullshitters have been tossing out for decades. Took maybe a half an hour to locate it, and another few minutes to post it for the world to see.

But if nobody bothers to do their own research, what the hell good is raw data unsupported and unverified by the tens of thousands of americans who get screwed -- or killed -- every single year?

So here's a link to the granddaddy of all national medical system statistical abstracts: the landmark 2000 WHO study comparing 190 countries against fixed standards ranging from excellence to incredible ineptitude. The US ranked 37th on this list in 2005, the last time it was updated.

But here's the whole sorry story, for your personal amusement. Fun for the whole family, too:

(It looks a lot prettier when you actually load this tab delimited database, but here's a truncated version of the shameful US dollar figures anyway.)

United States of America
Indicator Value (year)
External resources for health as percentage of total expenditure on health ? 0.0 (2005)
General government expenditure on health as percentage of total expenditure on health ? 45.1 (2005)
General government expenditure on health as percentage of total government expenditure ? 21.8 (2005)
Out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of private expenditure on health ? 23.90 (2005)
Per capita government expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US$) ? 2862.0 (2005)
Per capita government expenditure on health(PPP int. $) ? 2862.0 (2005)
Per capita total expenditure on health (PPP int. $) ? 6350.0 (2005)
Per capita total expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US$) ? 6350.0 (2005)
Private expenditure on health as percentage of total expenditure on health ? 54.9 (2005)
Private prepaid plans as percentage of private expenditure on health ? 66.3 (2005)
Social security expenditure on health as percentage of general government expenditure on health ? 28.8 (2005)
Total expenditure on health as percentage of gross domestic product ? 15.2 (2005)

Compare these with comparable stats from actual civilized countries, then draw your own conclusions.

Notice that:

World health statistics 2008 presents the most recent health statistics for WHO's 193 Member States. This fourth edition includes a section with 10 highlights of global health statistics for the past year as well as an expanded set of over 70 core health statistics.

The WHO Core Health Indicators database is no longer updated as of May 2008. WHO is pleased to announce the new version of the WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS), which offers the latest available data. Please update your bookmarks to reflect this change.

Yes... please do...

And you also wanted some "stories" on medical outcomes in various other countries where they don't treat their citizens like used toilet paper? Then go here for a cleverly concealed condemnation of the US for-profit medical system, couched in terms like "risk factors," "coverage of services" and "mortality and health status."

Finally, note this rather amazingly honest statement from one of WHO's heads of research, issued in a news release announcing the first-time availability of the 2000 study:

"The position of the United States is one of the major surprises of the new rating system," said Christopher Murray, M.D., Ph.D., Director of WHO's Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy. "Basically, you die earlier and spend more time disabled if you're an American rather than a member of most other advanced countries."

Just so...


sf