This is a (brief) follow up to my (not so brief) argument in favor of single payer health care systems (see here and here for the gory details). As I noted, the most common argument made by those who defend the current American system is that the waiting lists are interminably long in other countries. Now, Businessweek sheds some light on this question (via Kevin Drum).
The bottom line: “American people are already waiting as long or longer than patients living with universal health-care systems.” Average waits include 38 days to see a dermatologist for a suspicious-looking mole, and 17 days for an orthopedic surgeon. In fact, a 2005 survey showed that only 47 percent of patients could get a same or next-day appointment with a doctor for an immediate medical problem, higher than in every country in the sample bar Canada. And these are the lucky ones. Remember that health care is rationed extensively by cost in the US. More than half of all sick Americans stayed away from a doctor on cost grounds– needless to say, this is off the charts by comparison with countries offering universal care.
One key problem is that there is an under-supply of primary health care providers, or general practitioners, in the US relative to elsewhere. In Europe, GPs make up half of all physicians, but less than a third in the US. And only 40% of doctors in the US provide after-hours care, as opposed to 75% elsewhere. Where do Americans get their primary care? From emergency rooms. About 26 percent of all Americans visited emergency rooms over the past two years because they could not see their regular doctor. I’ve argued before that a solution to the health care crisis that embodies subsidiarity as well as solidarity would focus on primary, patient-centered care, where there is a close relationship between the doctor and the patient. The situation in the US is the opposite: emergency rooms deal with primary care and insurance companies make medical decisions.
Where does the US score well? It has relatively short waiting times for non-emergency surgery, including hip replacement or cataract operation (is it any surprise that this forms the basis of the most popular anecdote?). And even here, Germany’s waiting times are shorter.
The last pillar defending the broken and immoral US system has just fallen.
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