Higher Incomes Allow U.S. Residents To Spend More On Health Care, According To Opinion Piece

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 14 Nov 2007 - 9:00 PDT

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"America's high productivity gives [it] the ability to spend more on health care, especially the latest treatments and technologies, than other developed nations that labor under forms of socialized health care," John Graham, director of health care studies at the Pacific Research Institute, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Because U.S. residents earn "so much more than people in other countries, it naturally follows that we spend more on health care," he continues, adding, "Even after paying for our health care, Americans have far more money left over than their neighbors to spend on other goods and services."

However, "averages obscure many harsh realities and hide the fact that many Americans are unable to afford health care," he writes. According to Graham, "To improve the state of American health care and lighten the burden on business and workers, policy leaders should push for portability of health benefits, transparent pricing for health services, tort reforms and more competition among both insurers and providers." Graham concludes, "Given America's superior economic performance, however," the lack of universal health care "is a uniqueness we should not rush to abandon" (Graham, Wall Street Journal, 11/13).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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