Paul Krugman has told us that awful stories about government-run healthcare in Britain “are false.”

I guess this means that the media must be dominated by conservative liars, since we keep getting reports about substandard care and needless deaths (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

And the Boston Globe and Associated Press must be part of this vast right-wing conspiracy, because the Globe just ran an AP report exposing more problems in England. Here is an excerpt.

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Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell is a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at the Cato Institute.

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Victry Wrote: Jan 05, 2012 12:26 AM
Wow, and I see that some liberal, possibly from the UK (un)health(y) administration is here to post lies and common misinformation from the likes of Mikey (I never met a communist country I didn't like) Moore. I have worked in surgery and pedi-ICU and seen people from other countries come here to the US to get a better and faster treatment route. And having seen hospital in China, I really know we have a lot more than other countries do, despite the liberal lies.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 2:40 PM
From the Boston Globe article:
"According to the OECD, Britain spends about $3,487 per person on health. That’s far less than the U.S., which spends $7,960, and Norway, which spends $5,352, making it the country that spends the most in Europe."

So they are having trouble because, as a SOCIETY, they are trying to decide how much should be spent on health care, and I suspect everyone in the US thinks the UK spends too little and we spend too much. Imagine what they could do if they bumped up their spending 20-30%.They are in the midst of deciding how much to spend and how much reducing waiting times is worth.

Would be great if we would have that conversation. Instead we just let a third of our citizens go struggling - health care beggars,
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:53 PM
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/snapshotscharts/snapshotscharts_show.htm?doc_id=409110
"U.S. patients reported relatively longer waiting times for doctor appointments when they were sick, but relatively shorter waiting times to be seen at the ER, see a specialist, and have elective surgery. Specifically:

The percentage of U.S. patients who waited six days or more for a doctor appointment when sick was not significantly different from the rate in Canada (23% v. 36%), the worst-performing country.

Only 47 percent of U.S. patients were able to see a doctor on the same or next day when sick, versus 61 percent to 81 percent of patients in the four better-performing nations.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:52 PM
Exclusive: NHS hospital waiting times are the lowest since records began - mirror.co.uk:

"Hospital waiting times are the lowest since records began, Health Secretary Alan Johnson will say today as he rounds on critics of the NHS.

"Mr Johnson aims to hit back at the doom and gloom-mongers by showing how the nation's health service has been transformed for the better in the 12 years since 1997...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/03/30/exclusive-nhs-hospital-waiting-times-are-the-lowest-since-records-began-115875-21239011/
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:50 PM
Waiting times are a serious health policy issue in the 12 countries involved in this project (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).
Waiting times are not recorded administratively in a second group of countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United States) but are anecdotally (informally) reported to be low.
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2009/05/oecd-waiting-times-study-executive.html
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:50 PM
"Health care consultants Merritt Hawkins and Associates...looked at waiting times in 15 American cities for nonemergency care.


Overall, the average wait was three weeks—up from 8.6 days since the last survey of this type in 2004 -for a routine heart checkup from a cardiologist, a checkup for skin cancer from a dermatologist, a painful or injured knee from an orthopedic surgeon, a 'well woman' exam from an OB/GYN and a routine physical from a family practitioner. But there was a huge variety in wait times, anything from one day to an entire year."
http://www.merritthawkins.com/pdf/mha2009waittimesurvey.pdf
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Ann Anon Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:49 PM
A litle girl with a terminal heart condition was granted a make a wish to go from her home in England to DisneyWorld in Florida. She had a heart attack, had cpr by bystanders, 911 arrived, called for a helicopter and she was sent across the state to Tampa for heart surgery and care. Her family kept saying, well, but she is expected to die, no reason to torture her, we just pushed them aside. Kids first is our motto. Long story short she is alive and well, her heart is fixed but due to growing she may need one more surgery to allow for her increased size. England's answer when we called for payment? We don't do that surgery, won't pay for it. . . . . . . all the time. . .and Canada too. They send them here.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 6:59 PM
That's interesting, because they apparently, per this 2004 article, perform 10% of the world's pediatric heart transplants: "Since the first successful heart transplantation by Christian Barnard in 1967, there have been over 60 000 heart transplants performed worldwide. Around 350 paediatric heart transplants are now performed annually and approximately 10% of these are in the UK. "

But, hey, don't let anything challenge what you "believe.".

http://adc.bmj.com/content/89/4/386.full
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Michael461 Wrote: Jan 03, 2012 11:22 AM
Interesting. According to the article you cite, almost all of those are performed at two locations: Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. Both are NHS Foundation Trusts, which apparently means they can offer (and charge for) services not covered by the National Health Service.

In other words, these are partially privatized hospitals that not everyone has access too.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 03, 2012 11:50 PM
Nice baseless speculation...
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Victry Wrote: Jan 05, 2012 12:16 AM
Yeah, on your part and your own blog quoted in your own post. Kind of nice to use your own opinion to try and prove a non-existent fact. Having worked in surgery and treated fleeing Canadians and people of other nationalities that are seeking treatment that they can't get in a timely manner, I know a load of bulls--t when I read it.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:48 PM
When I discuss health care reform with friends, families, colleagues, or in public, the two most pervasive myths about health care outside the US are that in every other country, care is inferior and rationing is accomplished by intolerable waiting times. As I endeavor to dispel these myths, I am invariably told an anecdote about a person who died in Canada or England awaiting some procedure or other.

Dispelling these myths is two-fold: first, pointing out the rationing that occurs in America either by private health insurers or by lack of wherewithal to afford services, and second, by pointing out that there are more health care systems than “ours” and “theirs.”
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2011/04/waiting-times-myth.html
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:47 PM
Rationing health care:
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/health_care_/2007/07/rationing_health_care.php

"All this, let's recall, with the Chancellor breathing down the neck of the boss of the medical area on behalf of a full professor at the university that owns the hospital. So my experience with the system was probably about as good as it gets except for corporate executives using places like the Mayo Clinic or family members of people on the boards of directors of hospitals. (Apparently it's generally understood that if you stump up enough in the way of contributions to get on the board of the hospital, you're entitled to priority care; that's how not-for-profit hospitals raise capital.) It was only later that I discovered...
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:45 PM
From a note on my patient's chart today:

Dr. _______
Mrs. ________ has exhausted her SNF [Skilled Nursing Facility] coverage. She has used her full 100 days and does not qualify for Medical Assistance [Medicaid]. She would have to privately pay for an SNF and she cannot afford this.

Doctor's Reply: What can I do about this?

Response: The patient and family are aware and husband says he will hire help but cannot afford private pay at SNF.
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2007/11/exhausted.html
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:44 PM
Health Net ordered to pay $9 million after canceling cancer patient's policy - Los Angeles Times:

"Calling Woodland Hills-based Health Net's actions 'egregious,' Judge Sam Cianchetti, a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, ruled that the company broke state laws and acted in bad faith.

'Health Net was primarily concerned with and considered its own financial interests and gave little, if any, consideration and concern for the interests of the insured,' Cianchetti wrote in a 21-page ruling.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-insure23feb23,0,187355.story
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:43 PM
"Some Americans believe that countries like Australia, Canada and nearly all of Europe have 'socialized medicine.' For many, it's a vague concept that often conjures images of uncaring doctors, dirty government clinics, cracked plaster, crowded waiting rooms and really old magazines. And if you don't like it -- well, you can't fight city hall.

But that's just a dark fantasy. Australia has attractive offices and hospitals, great doctors, state-of-the-art care and, most importantly, quick and easy access to high-quality emergency care.

It's not socialized medicine, it's Medicare for all. You are born with it, you die with it and you get all the care you need in-between. Everyone has insurance, all the time."
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2008/0
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Vieteravet Wrote: Jan 03, 2012 8:29 PM
Dude if you lived near the Canadian border, you'd see all the Canadians coming down for treatment and US citizens going up to buy cheap drugs. You are a libtard pushing your socialist ideas. Move to Europe, one less dopey democrap.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 03, 2012 11:55 PM
Actually, this link is about Australia. Canada functions nearly as poorly as we do by many measures.

Btw, many of my best friends are "libtard" physicians at www.drsforamerica.org

Anyway, Watch the demographics. Can you all move to texahoma or somewhere like that, please?
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:42 PM
Thomson Reuters Survey Finds Cancer Patients Forgoing Treatment: "cancer treatment decisions of individuals.

Entitled “The Cost of Cancer,” the report aggregates survey responses from 1,767 adults currently being treated for cancer. It finds a clear link between patients’ annual income and their decisions to curb cancer treatments due to cost — even among patients with late-stage cancers.

The report notes that among the 569 survey respondents with late-stage cancer, 12.3 percent said they have passed up recommended treatment because it was too expensive
http://www.thomsonreuters.com/content/press_room/tsh/TR_Survey_Finds_Cancer_Patients
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Ann Anon Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:53 PM
No worries, if you have medicaid or hmo's or socialized meds they will curb your care for you. And I have a nice house, good pension and medicare and I would have to curb treatment decisions because I wish to leave something to my grandchildren, not spend it on this ancient body for an increase in life span of maybe six months. Nope, not intersted in that. Make mine morphine!
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 2:44 PM
Many people are like you, most are not (I see them all - I am an intensive care physician).

A warning - make sure your advance directive says this is what you want, and consider a clause saying your family MUST follow your wishes. I've seen too many families decide their 85 year old, bed ridden, clearly dying mother or father should get that last round of chemo, or go to the ICU for life support, etc., in spite of a living will.
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:42 PM
Insurer Is Sued Over Liver Transplant - NYTimes.com:

"The family of a 17-year-old leukemia patient has sued the health insurance giant Cigna over her death in 2007 after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27liver.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:41 PM
"In an attempt to settle investigations prompted by articles in The Times, the insurer agrees to reissue plans to almost 700 Californians and reimburse them for expenses that would have been covered.
By Lisa Girion [January 7, 2009 ]

"Blue Shield has agreed to reissue medical coverage to nearly 700 Californians whose policies were canceled after they got sick and to make changes in the way it handles insurance bought by individuals, officials said Tuesday.

"Blue Shield of California's Life & Health Insurance Co. also agreed to reimburse consumers whose coverage was canceled for medical expenses they paid out of pocket."
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-insure7-2009jan07,0,3544792.story
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:40 PM
"'People who are underinsured end up facing almost identical problems as the uninsured,' said Karen L. Pollitz, director of the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University. 'The difference is, they paid for the privilege.'

"Medical debt is likely to figure prominently in the looming national debate over reforming health care.

"Jim Eyler, 57, of Westminster, Md., says he needs help. The cement company manager said he spends about 33 percent of his take-home pay on unreimbursed medical bills, many connected with the advanced breast cancer his wife has been battling since 2005. 'I keep wondering, where's the money going to come from?' he asked."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/12/AR2009011202892.html
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:40 PM
Unlike single-payer Britain or Sweden, other nations like France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium have figured out a third way, a hybrid with private insurance companies, short waiting lists for treatment and individual choice of doctors (most of whom are in private practice).


This third-way hybrid is based on the principle of “shared responsibility” between workers, employers and the government, all contributing their fair share to guarantee universal coverage.
http://www.theglobalist.com/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=7551
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:39 PM
"Imagine a place where doctors still do house calls. When I was visiting my friend Meredith, living in the small rural town of Lautrec about an hour’s drive outside Toulouse, France, one day she was stung badly by a wasp, causing a sizable and painful swelling on her hand.

"She called her doctor, and to my great surprise within 15 minutes he had shown up at her door — the famous French doctor’s house call. I couldn’t get over it. “House calls in the United States went out when Eisenhower was president,” I told her, shaking my head."
http://www.theglobalist.com/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=7549
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edoc Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:38 PM
So, how about some stories out of Massachusetts about Romneycare?

Since Romneycare is the point-of-reference for much of Obamacare, and both are socialist/government-centered health care interventions we should be hearing more about Romneycare (except that the Clearchannel radio network is Bain Capital-controlled, Drudge has been in-the-bag for Romney from Day 1, Fox is Karl Rove who is a Romney adviser, and the MSM wants a weak opponent for Obama).

Are there no independent national sources of news any more? Everything is either Obama or Romney?

What about the doctors shortage in MA due to Romneycare.

What about the projected bankruptcy headed at MA due to Romneycare?

What about health care rationing in MA due to Romneycare?

Hello?
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 2:57 PM
MA is dealing with the bolus of new patients, but they were a very well insured state to begin with, so it is not as bad as it could be. The problem is, in MA and elsewhere, we are over specialized. Not enough PCPs to handle the new patients. As the ACA kicks in over the next five to ten years incentives and pay increases to PCPs, hopefully coupled with pay decreases for procedure based specialists, will shift our supply of physicians away from highly paid specialists and towards PCPs.

"Of 2135 practicing Massachusetts physicians who responded to the poll, 70% said they support the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, whereas 13% oppose it "
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0909851
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:38 PM
With Son in Remission, a Family Struggles to Find Coverage - NYTimes.com:

"Now the Walkers face the possibility that Jake will no longer be seen at Houston’s renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which they credit for his remission.

“You realize how vulnerable you really are,” said Ms. Walker, who exhibits the maternal ferocity of a black bear. “You just — not give up — but you just feel that you’re at a loss, that you’re at your wits’ end. I ask myself, ‘Do I really have to lose my home to save my son’s life?’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/us/21uninsured.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:37 PM

"Imagine being sick enough or hurt enough to rush to an emergency room—and then leaving without getting the recommended tests or treatment because you can't afford it.

"Doctors have a name for those discharges—'Against Medical Advice.' It seems to be happening more often, both in the ER and in the rest of the hospital as health costs rise and insurance coverage falls.
Read on... http://www.newamerica.net/blog/new-health-dialogue/2009/health-care-if-emergency-please-press-cant-afford-it-11752
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:33 PM
"The scare ads and op-ed pieces featuring Canadians telling us American how terrible their government health-care systems have arrived - predictably.

"There's another, factual view - by those of us Americans who've lived in Canada and used their system.

"My wife and I did for years, and we've been incensed by the lies we've heard back here in the U.S. about Canada's supposedly broken system."

Read on...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mann/americans-whove-used-cana_b_215256.html
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:32 PM
The Los Angeles event marks the first time Remote Area Medical has provided such medical care in a major urban area. The medical group typically serves patients in rural parts of the United States and travels to underdeveloped countries.

The piercing sound of teeth being drilled and scraped echoed up to the rafters where the Los Angeles Lakers once played to the roar of capacity crowds. Mobile health trucks provided other medical examinations, and tables full of donated eyeglasses were available to those who had eye examinations done.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJCl-XC_yWbjQQNpi584Ej1eKQIAD9A10U300
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cmhmd Wrote: Jan 02, 2012 1:31 PM
From Dr. Alex Blum:

In the middle of one night during my training at a county hospital outside of Los Angeles, a 12-year-old boy arrived at the emergency room. He was having a seizure. From a brain scan, we made the terrible diagnosis: He had suffered a massive stroke. At best, he would be severely disabled for the rest of his life.

When I sat down with his mother to tell her the bad news, she told me that he had been a happy, healthy child through most of grade school. But there had been one other trip to the hospital. When he was 7, he'd had a stroke from which he recovered quickly and completely.
Read the rest: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-blum13-2009sep13,0,2614712,print.story
WE RATION BY INCOME in the USA
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Stormy22 Wrote: Jan 01, 2012 8:48 PM
The first visible signs of the effects of Obamacare will be when you try to go to your primary care doctor, and the only one you can see will be a nurse practitioner, with a laptop and computer program to diagnose your medical problem. There won't be doctors in primary care. They won't be able to practice primary care at the low levels of compensation. Just hope that the computer program dosn't malfunction and misdiagnose.
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