Miles Jackson wrote:
>> I agree: we should look at total cost to society, not the "average"
>
> consumer. There is a mountain of data that demonstrates the massive
> cost/benefit ratio of preventative care (e.g., prenatal care,
> hypertension screening, cancer screening). Given that most
> uninsured people do not receive this preventative care, and only
> go to the emergency room when they are extremely ill, health care
> costs for our society as a whole are substantially higher than for
> any other industrialized nation.
Health care is also another case of socializing the loss and privatizing the profit.
A great deal of health care is spent dealing with chronic illness that is caused by stress: heart disease, depression, anxiety (top three) need never occur if people have a chance to live a healthy life that is not subject to constant (state/corporate) terror.
Add to that the toxicity of our environment and our food ....
>
> --I think this is perhaps the greatest threat to public health
> in the U. S.: because health is a commodity, we only buy it if we
> think we "need" it.
But health is not a commodity. When is the last time you woke up in the morning and asked yourself, "What shall I do today? Get a triple bypass or buy a camera?" And sick, frightened people with no medical training are not customers who can shop around and get the best deal for their money.
I know you don't disagree with me Miles, but it's very important to argue that this is so because the general presentation is that people
get medical care the way they get their spring wardrobe.
Joanna