I'm up early this morning, working on our Thanksgiving feast. I can't offer you any sweet potatoes or turkey, but here are a few goodies I discovered about health care systems of other countries.
Tonny van der Salm clued me in about an excellent public television program she'd seen. In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the US might learn from their successes and their failures.
There's an interesting discussion of France and the Netherlands' health systems by Jonathan Cohn at The Boston Globe.
BBC News has some healthcare comparisons on their site here.
Remember yesterday's post, the song "We're Number 37" by Paul Hipp? PolitiFact has a detailed look at the World Health Organization statistics in their Truth-O-Meter feature article.
What do you think of these sources and their conclusions? Have you found other good information on the subject? Please share in the comments!
And have a lovely Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for my great students!
Today's post features a video from youtube made by a man named Paul Hipp. He's not a policy expert, he's not a legislator, he's not a news commentator. He's a singer/songwriter who supports health care reform, and he performs his song "We're Number 37," referring, of course, to the US rank in the World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health care systems. Warning: Some material may be offensive to some listeners.
"We're Number 37"
Come one, Come all Down to the hall We're gonna make noise We're gonna bust balls We're gonna disrupt We're gonna jump in the fray I got a list of all the things that were supposed to say We're gonna get real rowdy Have a barrel of fun But we're the USA so by the way be sure to bring a gun And buddy
We're Number 37 We're the USA We're Number 37 And we're so proud to say We got old people crying at the pharmacy Pay your deductible This ain't the land of the f-f-f-free Grandma We're Number 37 We're the USA
People of the town come on down And if you got a crazy rumor you can spread it around I kind of like my insurance and I like my health The other 47 million can go treat themselves To some prayer in chapel Fold your hands and pray Because we are a Christian nation and that is the Christian way And brother
We're Number 37 We're the USA The big Number 37 And were so proud to say Were #1 one in tanks We're #1 in planes We're #1 in war with #2 for brains We're Number 37 We're the USA
I drew a Hitler mustache on the president Yea! Ain't that neat My brother had a hernia operation last year And now he's living out on the street
We're Number 37 We're the USA The big Number 37 And we want to keep it that way Be sure to bring the kids All of the boys and girls Because the #1 health care system in the world... Is in France???
We're Number 37 We're the USA We're Number 37 And we got something to say We pay more for less 40% in fact Let's bite some fingers off Shout at the handicapped 'Cause buddy We're Number 37 We're the USA
Wer'e Number 37 We're the USA We're Number 37 We're the USA
Exploring the boundaries of planet Earth while raising two very excellent Earthlings. In search of the perfect caprese salad. Gravitating toward warm, swim-worthy bodies of water.
