[quote=livinincali][quote=no_such_reality]There’s several reasons.
First thing we need to address is that per capita, the USA across it’s levels of Government is currently and has for the last five years been spending on par with GReat Britain, France and Germany. We haven’t taxed to that level, but per person, we’re spending the same level of Government.
Except we don’t have universal health care, SS is kind of like their pensions, but overall, we’ve been funneling our money into the Military.
When you look at Norway, firstly, their top tax rate is 48%, their GDP per capita is twice ours, with a GDP at basically $100K/person.[/quote]
We have universal health care for 119 million people in this country (medicare and medicaid) at a cost of $940/119 = $7,899 per person on the program. Most industrialized nations provide health care for about $3,500-5,550 per capita. http://kff.org/global-indicator/health-expenditure-per-capita/
The real big problem is the total cost of providing medical care is this country. The key is figuring out how to provide medical care for less not figuring out how to get more people to help pay for the exorbitant costs.[/quote]
Besides high costs, I believe the $7899 per person avg annual MC expense is due to the WWII Gen and the dwindling fragments of the Greatest Gen not taking care of themselves. There are only 2.72 years worth of baby boomers currently eligible for Medicare (DOBs: 1/1/46 to 10/21/48). And of course, a few thousand of these new MC eligibles have barely had a chance to sign up and have not yet been to the doctor while covered under MC.
Remember that surgeon general warnings were not on packages of cigarettes until 1966 and they were handed out like candy for free to active duty military members prior to that. And smoking was allowed in every restaurant and bar until the early nineties in most locales. Smoking was also allowed in enclosed workplaces or in designated areas of enclosed workplaces, causing the smoke to filter into the workers who didn’t smoke.
The vast majority of the US population was also ignorant of the adverse affects high cholesterol levels had on the body. And there were very few gyms available to join and work out at until the mid-eighties. Sugar-substitutes other than saccharin pills and powder were unavailable until the mid/late eighties. And many of our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers also had multiple children one after another which caused them (expensive) pelvic floor problems down the line.
The above are just a few of the differences between generations which are driving the healthcare expenses of the current MC-eligible crowd.
I see boomers as using LESS healthcare (on avg) than their precedessors did because MANY boomers (incl myself) have taken the steps years or decades ago to improve their health and fitness naturally (thru diet, supplements and exercise) and have pulled away from the daily/weekly practice of the regional food cultures that they grew up with. And many boomers (incl myself) also watched multiple relatives die a prolonged, agonizing death from emphysema and COPD.
By the time Gen Y gets to MC age, it’s anybody’s guess how much healthcare they will need. A good portion of them seem to have turned into junk-food junkies from a young age … BUT they still have time to get their sh!t together and “recover” from their bad food choices and inactivity.
In my gym, the over-50 crowd is thinner and fitter overall than the under-35 crowd. Go figure …
