Do Americans Really Get Their Money’s Worth in Healthcare?

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We’ll wrap up Thanksgiving weekend just with a general question to our readers:  Do you think that you get your money’s worth in healthcare.

The question is on our mind after reading an opinion post by Robert J. Samuelson in The Washington Post on controlling healthcare costs in America:

Americans know that expensive medical care is squeezing non-health government programs and, through higher employer insurance costs, take-home pay. But they console themselves that U.S. health care “is the best in the world.” Among experts, this view has long been debated, but a new study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris suggests that the debate is over: It’s not true.

As societies grow wealthier, people want — and can afford — more health care. Still, U.S. health spending (about $7,960 per person in 2009) is in a league of its own. It’s 50 percent higher than Norway’s ($5,352), the next costliest. U.S. spending is more than double Britain’s ($3,487), France’s ($3,978) and the OECD average ($3,233).

Despite this, Americans aren’t notably healthier than people in other advanced countries, the study reports. Life expectancy in the United States (78.2 years) lags behind Japan’s (83 years) and the OECD average (79.5 years). It roughly equals Chile’s and the Czech Republic’s, says Mark Pearson of the OECD. Americans don’t have much to show for their system’s enormous cost, even if the gaps in life expectancy partly reflect differences in lifestyle and diet.

A grim diagnosis for our ailing health care system

So we put this to you dear readers… do you think you get your money’s worth when you’re paying for your healthcare? Tell us about it!

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3. Healthcare Reform: Are Americans Thawing Towards Healthcare Reform? Maybe…
4. Americans Can’t Afford Cancer Treatment, Even With Health Insurance
5. Healthcare Reform: Putting your Adult Child on Your Health Insurance Policy… Is It Worth It?