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But the author of the article also says the methodology of those studies is poor and that, really, health insurance doesn't have a large effect in saving people's lives.
That is correct, and you can go to the Dartmouth Atlas at Dartmouth University and read all of the studies yourself if you want.
You -- and only you -- have the greatest impact on saving your life.
That's why comparison between the US and other foreign States is a total joke.
Life-Style has a tremendous impact on mortality and health. Let me give you some factual examples.
The average 16-19 year old in the US drives 7,600 miles annually.
And the average 16-19 year old European?
Excluding the UK, you have to be 18 years to get a driver's license. Euro-States do not provide free driver's education like US schools do. You have to pay for it, and it is expensive, which is why many don't even get their licenses until they are 20 years or older.
How many miles do Americans drive annually compared to Europeans? Well, there you go. It's sheer probability and statistics. The more miles you drive, the more likely you are to have an accident and die, or have an accident and die of insurance.
Note that the costs associated with Trauma Centers are very great.
Look at the number of Americans who need Trauma Level care versus Europeans strictly due to traffic accidents.
"But they spend less."
Fine....let's limit the amount of miles Americans can drive annually to that of Europeans, and that will reduce the accident rate and you can spend less on healthcare, too.
European States do not have crack epidemics, heroin epidemics or crystal meth epidemics like Americans do, plus they don't have the associated violence that accompanies drug use.
Americans have very bad diets. Europeans cannot afford to drink soft-drinks 24/7 and eat potato chips all the time. Americans waste a lot of their health and disposable income on very bad dieting habits.
How many Americans have insurance, yet die anyway, because they won't see a doctor, or won't properly manage their own health?
How many Americans have insurance, visit a doctor, yet totally ignore the doctor's instructions?
How many Americans die of diabetic coma, or insulin shock or other diabetes related problems?
If you refuse to follow the diet and take your medication properly, then all the healthcare in the World won't help you.
What are the costs associated with Americans refusing to manage their own care?
It's very high. I see this at the VA all the time. They don't follow the proper care, and end up having a toe, foot, knee or their entire leg amputated.
That ain't free, by the way.
You have Americans selling their drugs on the streets for money, and then they whine about having to take a drug test, and then whine about the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical care.....gosh, how stupid is that?
"As personal income increases, people demand more and better goods and services, including health care. This means that holding other factors constant, as higher personal income increases the quantity and quality of care demanded, overall health care spending increases as well. GDP is a good indicator of the effect of increasing income on health care spending."
Source: United States Government General Accounting Office GAO-13-281 PPACA and the Long-Term Fiscal Outlook, page 33.
Methodologically....
@Mircea, what, I can't eat 3 large bags of doritoes everyday? GET OUTTA MURRICA
But seriously, your point about driving mileage brings up an interesting point.. maybe health insurers should all verify mileage driven every year and change premium prices based on that too.
This CDC link says:
Quote:
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death a in the U.S.1 More than 2.5 million drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2012.2 The economic impact is also notable: in a one-year period, the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with injuries from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $80 billion.1
One of the world's richest men recently died from pancreatic cancer. As a multi-billionaire, I think we can assume Steve Jobs could afford the best health insurance, thus best health care services possible. Yeah, pancreatic cancer didn't give a damn and killed him anyway.
Health insurance does not provide health care, nor does it save lives. It is a cost reduction mechanism that saves an individual some money by spreading their cost to other insured, but even then the savings is only realized for truly expensive totals.
Yes. It is good to know if I have a serious condition before I end up in critical condition in the Emergency Room. I should probably be able to see a doctor some day...
According to this August 2009 link, some studies suggest that 18,000 - 22,000 Americans die a year because of lack of health insurance. But the author of the article also says the methodology of those studies is poor and that, really, health insurance doesn't have a large effect in saving people's lives.
So what do you think? Does health insurance save lives? And if so, does it matter?
The study tracked a group between 1986-2002. Most of medications used to treat Cancer right now we're not available during the timeframe of this study. 11/12 of those treatments cost more than $ 100,000 a year right now. How many uninsured can afford these treatments while paying out of pocket?
I don't think a conclusion was reached other than payer status is an independent risk factor, Medicaid patients had the worst results, and that practitioners should monitor them more closely.
Several Doctors chimed in and said that their Medicaid patients would not stick to the health regimen laid out for them, but that doesn't quite explain why the results would differ in a hospital setting. Another theory is that since Medicaid pays the least the Dr's spend less time with them, but that doesn't quite negate the fact that Medicaid patients had the most expensive hospital stays.
Here are some of the available studies, but I don't care to dig all of them up at the moment.
A recent study in Oregon showed a significant improvement in mental health scores for Medicaid patients. It was too short a study to say anything about mortality.
No, health insurance does not save lives. Insurance pays the bills for medical care which under emergency conditions should be available to all. Some with chronic illness may survive without health insurance, some will not. Some with insurance will survive, some will not.
Insurance is not a guarantee of anything.
That is all correct.
The following is not common in my experience, but I have seen it.
For the poor uninsured it can mean life or death, if their finances and personal obligations won't allow certain actions. I had a patient with bad cardiac risk factors scheduled for a cardiac imaging scan. He lost his Medicaid before he got the test, so it was never done. He died from his heart attack about 2 months later. We surely would have found his problem and repaired it if he had still been on Medicaid. He just had too many other life and family obligations, and not enough money.
In my own personal case, I submitted myself at age 52 for routine colonoscopy screening. I had no symptoms, but had a pre-malignant polyp. Today I would either be fighting colon cancer or worse if I had not done the procedure. No doubt if I were poor and without insurance I never would have had it done. In fact many with insurance and/or not poor never have it done. So this isn't statistics, but an illustration of possibilities.
I have seen many colon cancers in my professional career, and more than a few deaths from it. But it is very rare to see it in those properly screened. Having HC insurance makes it much easier for poor folks to get preventative care. Now with Obamacare these preventatives are 'free', meaning zero patient copay. This should make it easier yet.
Same for cardiac imaging. If it is done, death in the next 6 months is very unlikely.
But do any of these statistically increase life span in a broad population? I can't say.
Life or increased life span itself are not always the issue.
Good health and well being, comfort, a rich and productive life, and a relative lack of pain and suffering is more often the better outcome with insurance than without.
No, health insurance does not save lives. Insurance pays the bills for medical care which under emergency conditions should be available to all. Some with chronic illness may survive without health insurance, some will not. Some with insurance will survive, some will not.
Insurance is not a guarantee of anything.
I agree. The real question should be do preventative measures like costly tests on seemingly healthy people paid for by health insurance save lives?!
That is correct, and you can go to the Dartmouth Atlas at Dartmouth University and read all of the studies yourself if you want.
You -- and only you -- have the greatest impact on saving your life.
That's why comparison between the US and other foreign States is a total joke.
Life-Style has a tremendous impact on mortality and health. Let me give you some factual examples.
The average 16-19 year old in the US drives 7,600 miles annually.
And the average 16-19 year old European?
Excluding the UK, you have to be 18 years to get a driver's license. Euro-States do not provide free driver's education like US schools do. You have to pay for it, and it is expensive, which is why many don't even get their licenses until they are 20 years or older.
How many miles do Americans drive annually compared to Europeans? Well, there you go. It's sheer probability and statistics. The more miles you drive, the more likely you are to have an accident and die, or have an accident and die of insurance.
Note that the costs associated with Trauma Centers are very great.
Look at the number of Americans who need Trauma Level care versus Europeans strictly due to traffic accidents.
"But they spend less."
Fine....let's limit the amount of miles Americans can drive annually to that of Europeans, and that will reduce the accident rate and you can spend less on healthcare, too.
European States do not have crack epidemics, heroin epidemics or crystal meth epidemics like Americans do, plus they don't have the associated violence that accompanies drug use.
Americans have very bad diets. Europeans cannot afford to drink soft-drinks 24/7 and eat potato chips all the time. Americans waste a lot of their health and disposable income on very bad dieting habits.
How many Americans have insurance, yet die anyway, because they won't see a doctor, or won't properly manage their own health?
How many Americans have insurance, visit a doctor, yet totally ignore the doctor's instructions?
How many Americans die of diabetic coma, or insulin shock or other diabetes related problems?
If you refuse to follow the diet and take your medication properly, then all the healthcare in the World won't help you.
What are the costs associated with Americans refusing to manage their own care?
It's very high. I see this at the VA all the time. They don't follow the proper care, and end up having a toe, foot, knee or their entire leg amputated.
That ain't free, by the way.
You have Americans selling their drugs on the streets for money, and then they whine about having to take a drug test, and then whine about the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical care.....gosh, how stupid is that?
"As personal income increases, people demand more and better goods and services, including health care. This means that holding other factors constant, as higher personal income increases the quantity and quality of care demanded, overall health care spending increases as well. GDP is a good indicator of the effect of increasing income on health care spending."
Source: United States Government General Accounting Office GAO-13-281 PPACA and the Long-Term Fiscal Outlook, page 33.
Methodologically....
Mircea
Actually, Russia has a substantially higher incidence of heroin and alcohol addiction than the US. This is reflected in a current life expectantcy almost ten years less than the US.
Heroin addiction is off the charts in Afghanistan and Iran. Proximity seems to trump religion.
The U.S. comes in at a distant second place to France for prescription pill addiction, anti- depressants and opioids. Some believe this is because the Meds are substantially cheaper in France than the US.
My MDs office offers voluntary group appointments to those with the same diagnosis, especially diabetes. These group appointments are very popular with older patients. One group goes out for pie and coffee, afterwards.
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