A recent survey by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harris Interactive, as part of their ongoing series, Debating Health: Election 2008, finds that Americans are generally split on the issue of whether the United States has the best health care system in the world (45% believe the U.S. has the best system; 39% believe other countries have better systems; 15% don’t know or refused to answer) and that there is a significant divide along party lines. Nearly seven-in-ten Republicans (68%) believe the U.S. health care system is the best in the world, compared to just three in ten (32%) Democrats and four in ten (40%) Independents who feel the same way.
This poll was conducted during a period of debate over the comparative merits of the U.S. health care system and the health care systems in other countries. President Bush and other prominent political figures have claimed that the U.S. has the best system in the world. At the same time, the World Health Organization and other organizations have ranked the U.S. below many other countries in their comparisons, while Michael Moore presented a similarly negative assessment of the U.S. health system in a popular format with his film Sicko.
So how might this issue impact how Americans vote in the upcoming presidential election” When asked if they would be more likely to support or oppose a presidential candidate who advocates making the U.S. health care system more like health systems in other countries, specifically Canada, France, and Great Britain, only one in five (19%) Republicans say they would be more likely to support such a candidate. This is compared to more than half (56%) of Democrats and more than a third of Independents (37%) who say they would be more likely to support such a candidate.
Though many Americans view the health care systems of other countries as better than the U.S. in general, the survey shows that they do not identify as better those countries that have been most frequently compared to the U.S. In head-to-head comparisons with health care systems in Canada, France and Great Britain, a large percentage of Americans are not sure how the U.S. compares overall. Over half (53%) of Americans say they don’t know how the U.S. generally compares to France and four in ten (40%) say they don’t know if the U.S. system is better or worse than Great Britain’s. A quarter (26%) are not sure how the U.S health care system compares to the Canadian system.
The view that the U.S. health care system lags other countries seems largely driven by the view that the U.S. is behind in controlling health care costs and providing affordable access to everyone. In comparing how the U.S. stacks up against other countries in specific areas, a slim majority of Americans believe that the U.S. health care system is better in terms of the quality of care patients receive (55% believe the U.S. is better than other countries) and shorter waiting times to see specialists or be admitted to the hospital (53% believe the U.S. is better than other countries). However, very few believe that the U.S. has the edge when it comes to providing affordable access to everyone (26% believe the U.S. is better than other countries) and controlling health care costs (21% believe the U.S. is better than other countries).
Once again, there are contrasts in how Republicans view the United States’ standing on these elements and how Democrats and Independents rate the U.S. As an example, four-in-ten (40%) Republicans believe the U.S health care system is better than other countries when it comes to making sure everyone can get affordable health care, compared to just one-in-five Democrats (19%) and Independents (22%) who share that belief. On each of the four elements tested, Independents are within a few percentage points of agreement with Democrats, and both are significantly separated from Republicans.
“The health care debate in this election involves starkly different views of the U.S. health care system,” says Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. “One party sees it as lagging other countries across a broad range of problem areas while the other party sees the system as the best in the world with a more limited range of problems.”
Although I agree with many of the previous posts that the healthcare system is broken, be careful what you wish for. Putting government in charge of healthcare is a recipe for disaster. What has government ever really been good at but taxes and war? Why not look at the core cause of this broken healthcare system which I believe is a lack of competition and a medical monopoly that presumes the best approach to health is ALWAYS drugs and/or surgery. Government, due to special interests, I believe will only perpetuate this broken approach. Sometimes the most effective approach is simplicity. For example Dr. Batmanjeldi, M.D.’s book on “The Bodies Many Cries For Water” that treated many common ailments with a plea for people to drink more water. Simple, but not very sexy for a society that likes a “quick fix” approach that inevitably leads to high cost healthcare in treating disease. When will we learn?
RICH REPUBLICANS WHO ARE SELFISH, HAVE NO COMPASSION AND ARE QUITE HAPPY TO LET OTHERS SUFFER STAND IN THE WAY! IT IS THEIR MONEY WHICH IS THEIR ONLY WEAPON.
TAKE AWAY THEIR MONEY AND THEY ARE POWERLESS!
I cannot agree more with the above post. I too consider myself a very successful independent business owner. I have myself paid into the insurance system my whole life as have my parents. I now have a mid-life health issue that will persist until death, and my parents are going through the end of life health issues. Even with full insurance the uncovered costs of treatment and care are basically bankrupting my family. All of the ailments are relatively common and not due to any unhealthy life styles or abuses during life. Our health care system is most definitely broken, and many people do not realize it. It is a sad state of affairs when even a well planned and hard working lifestyle can not insure against bankruptcy due to common medical conditions. More people than you think are hoping for an quick or early death so that the fruits of a lifetime of hard work can be used to help children or other people instead of just being spent on medical care.
The reality is we were not designed to live so long and the systems break down and fail. We are spending vast sums of money to battle and prolong the inevitable. We grasp our seat on the train of life consuming enormous resources which the next generation is being deprived of because of our “holding on” to something which we are not naturally entitled. The system and our values is not sustainable.
Should we spend $1,000,000 to separate co-joined twins so they can “live a full life” at the expense of others who are constructed as they should be and are destitute and in want of clean water and a day in school?
Nature makes mistakes. All other higher animals kill or let die their defective young because they know they will not contribute to the overall welfare and survival of the species. We need to recognize our similarities.
The reason why Republicans believe our system is better is that when they start to have problems they switch their party to Democrat. I am a businessman who has been paying into the private health insurance for 35 years. Then I was forced to change providers twelve years ago. Since then I have not been covered for my preexisting condition. After twenty two years of supporting the private insurance industry, when I now need the coverage I can’t even buy it. My health insurance costs are over $1000 a month, and I am still not covered. What kind of society allows such unfair treatment. That is why I am now a Democrat.