From the statistics I've seen that's not true. The lowest 20% may have worse care than the lowest 20% in other developed countries, but the average American has access to the best health care in the world. Just look at American cancer survival rates--they are the highest in the world.
>The average hospital in the US isn't as good (well-equipped, well-staffed)
Now that's just plain wrong, the vast majority of hospitals in the US are incredibly well equipped.
Well, I have to ask: what the hell statistics have you seen?
A baby born in the USA is almost three times more likely to die at or immediately following birth than in Japan. [1]
Your cancer stat is true for prostate and breast cancer, but Japan has the best rates for some other types of cancers [2], and importantly Japanese people actually develop much less cancer[2.1], one reason for which is much better preventative medical care (for average people); the average Japanese person sees a doctor three times more often than the average Americans, and have three times more MRI scans[3].
Speaking of MRI machines, Japan has twice as many of them per capita than does the USA[4], and routinely uses them for preventive care. I've lived in both, and my government health insurance in Japan routinely covers MRI scans for preventive and diagnostic purpose, while my employer-suplied HMO in the states refused all MRI scans until actual debilitation had already occured.
A colleague just had a baby here, and not only is the care better than the USA (more visits, less waiting, better outcomes for typical people), health care for the baby is free until the baby is 15. Another reason that baby will see a health care professional more often.
I used to believe that American health care was the best, too. We hear it all the time growing up. And we spend so much. But then I moved abroad, and it turned out everything I thought I knew was wrong.
It's just like saying "American education is the best in the world!"
Sure it is... at M.I.T. and Stanford, maybe. Across the vast majority of the population in public schools? Not so much.
Infant mortality is a horrible statistic. Birth registration varies by country, so what counts as "infant mortality" is so varied that it's useless to compare.
> Japanese people actually develop much less cancer[2.1], one reason for which is much better preventative medical care (for average people); the average Japanese person sees a doctor three times more often than the average Americans, and have three times more MRI scans
Cancer doesn't work that way. Seeing the doctor 3 times per year is not going to keep you from developing cancer. They may catch it earlier
Also how many times they see doctors could be completely cultural.
I have a crappy high deductible health plan I bought because I'm self-employed (that costs about $100 per month), but I can see a GP 6 times per year for $10 a visit.
For the average American the number of times they go to the doctor has nothing to do with cost.
I hate to flog a dead horse, or a dead thread, but:
> Cancer doesn't work that way. Seeing the doctor 3 times per year is not going to keep you from developing cancer.
Utterly, completely incorrect. Seeing a doctor more frequently and doing more preventative care demonstrably prevents cancer:
> They may catch it earlier.
Exactly. Early enough, in fact, to prevent cancer from happening at all. A pre-cancerous growth in the breast is found, treated, and/or removed. A polyp in the colon is discovered and resected. Cancer avoided in both cases.
These kinds of things happen a huge number of times every year here in the comprehensive annual health checks which, under the Japanese health care system, typical companies are required to both pay for (the portion the insurance doesn't pay), and give their employees paid time off to undergo.
> For the average American the number of times they go to the doctor has nothing to do with cost.
Extremely hard to believe when 47 million Americans have no insurance of any kind, and 100+ million more have low-quality health insurance, and more than half of Americans are now living in poverty or low-income situations.[1]
Furthermore, cost means more than the price the hospital charges. Virtually none of my American coworkers or friends regularly undergo a comprehensive medical checkup -- those that do are those who already have something wrong, like high cholesterol.
100% of my Japanese friends and colleagues do it every single year. Why? Here, if you skip your health check, then you're just working at the office instead, because you do it on work time. So the incentives are sane; why not go?
That's baked into the system, and just another reason that the Japanese system provides better health care to most of the people (the bottom 80%-90% of income brackets, I think).
> "infant mortality" is so varied that it's useless to compare.
Not when you are comparing the USA and Japan. That might be true when comparing other sets of countries.
Methodological difficulties aside, infant mortality is one of the most important metrics by which one could compare health cares systems -- what matters more than whether your baby lives or dies? Not much.
From the statistics I've seen that's not true. The lowest 20% may have worse care than the lowest 20% in other developed countries, but the average American has access to the best health care in the world. Just look at American cancer survival rates--they are the highest in the world.
>The average hospital in the US isn't as good (well-equipped, well-staffed)
Now that's just plain wrong, the vast majority of hospitals in the US are incredibly well equipped.