The total effect isn’t noticeable, but the number keepers are there to remind us that America once was the frontrunner in almost any field you could name except genocide and torture.
That’s changing.
Some of the stats don’t amount to much—like the national prestige that’s been dumped into the disposal; or the fact that we no longer lead in auto production.
Of more concern is health care.
It has everything to do with how long one lives.
Back in 1980 of 30 reporting nations the USA ranked 14th in life expectancy. Plenty of concerned citizens were disturbed by this. No one did anything about it, of course. This was when we had a brand new president who labeled Medicare and Social Security as communism.
By 2003, America had slipped from 14th to 23rd. Thus did we sink seven from the bottom of the 30 nations surveyed.
By the way, Japan, Sweden, France, Austria, Netherlands, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and doubtless many others have governmental health care in some form.
This good nation’s standing in infant mortality slipped from 18th to 25th, five from the bottom where joins Mexico and Turkey and similar golden states.
A growing number of American physicians are concerned. Some have admitted to having patients who, in all probability, will die due to lack of adequate ongoing care.
On the other hand, one physician says that “I’d guess about 10 percent are deeply concerned. Inertia is difficult to buck.”
Among the deeply concerned is this mid-state physician:
“I am in favor of extending Medicare to cover the entire population which is the ‘single-payer’ plan. The current system skims off 20-30 percent of the health care dollar for administrative costs, high salaries to executives and corporate profit.
“Health care expenditures will never come under control until we can reform malpractice so that doctors don't have to order expensive tests to be sure they cover the slight possibility of a serious condition. CT scans are done often when the odds are small they will show something because to not get one and possibly miss something.
“Patients who come from the nursing home who are labeled Do Not Resuscitate are admitted to the intensive care without regard to their underlying terminal condition.”
It is such a huge, complex matter that Physicians for a National Health program says neither party has a handle on it, and that the Democratic plan is inadequate and the Republican plan would worsen, not help. Politicians avoid it as much as possible though Dr. Rishi Saxena, a failed candidate for the state legislature, had the temerity to mention it on his yard signs.
Meanwhile, American health care falls short of lesser nations like the Czech Republic.
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