Keywords

Health Care

Politics, The Economy

A [2003] RAND Health study that is the largest and most comprehensive examination ever conducted of health care quality in the United States found that adults fail to receive recommended health care nearly half the time.

Researchers noted that the deficiencies in care they found pose serious threats to the health of the American public” that could contribute to thousands of preventable deaths in the United States each year.

The researchers said their findings shatter the widely held perception that health care quality is not a problem in the United States. In reality, the study found that many people are not receiving appropriate treatment. According to the researchers, these findings are the best estimates ever provided of the seriousness of the quality problem in the United States.

(Emphasis added.) I just got in an argument with someone the other day who insisted that socialized medicine would mean Americans got worse health care. You know, horror stories about having to wait in line for an important operation and all that. Read the summary of the findings from the above report and you’ll be find out just how great our health care system really is, for instance:

People with diabetes received only 45 percent of the care they need. For example, less than one-quarter of diabetics had their blood sugar levels measured regularly. Poor control of blood sugar can lead to kidney failure, blindness and amputation of limbs.

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