Information

Alright, if ya'll know me I'd rather watch Top Chef than do my homework but sometimes I'll get it together.  We had a reading assignment before the tour, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid.  I highly recommend reading this book.  It will answer a lot of questions but if you want some information now, watch this Frontline report, read this Washington Post article and check out this chart.


Highlights: 
1) We spend more on health care than any other industrialized nation (15-17% of our GDP) and get the least return on our dollar.
2) We are the only industrialized nation that doesn't offer universal health care.
3) We have the only purely socialized version of health care in the world in the form of our veteran care.
4) We have the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world: "The Infant mortality rate, the rate of deaths per 1,000 live births, remains higher in the U.S. than in most other developed nations. The infant mortality rate in Japan is 2.8. The infant mortality rate in Germany is 3.9. The infant mortality rate in Switzerland is 4.2. The infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom is 5.1. The infant mortality rate in the United States is 6.8."
5) More people die in the US from curable diseases such as lupus and untreated cancers than in any other developed country.  

After getting somewhat informed, I still had questions: what will work for America?  Do we really want universal health care?  If it is really beneficial for everyone AND cost saving for the nation, why are people fighting it from happening?