60 days, 60 stats - #22
Let's talk about Obamacare, and how it helps the middle class. Two numbers today: 141% and 1.5 years. This is a chart showing health care spending relative to life expectancy for the richest countries in the world (OECD member countries). I think it's probably the best way to begin a health care discussion because almost anyone can agree that life expectancy is a pretty good measure of the effectiveness of healthcare, and also that, as Americans, we love a good deal. We want to get the most for our money.
We spend 141% more per person than the average country on this chart, and our life expectancy is 1.5 years less. We spend more than twice as much as Japan, and they live 5 years longer. We are not getting a good deal, at all, and this represents a tremendous burden on our economy as a whole, and the middle class.
$2,600,000,000,000. That's $2.6 Trillion, the total amount we spent on health care in 2010. We're spending more and more each year as a percentage of GDP. In other words, our spending on health care is growing at a faster rate than our economy as a whole. Since 2002, employer-sponsored health coverage for family premiums have increased by 97%, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers. Millions of uninsured Americans are getting a free-ride at the expense of the rest of us. We should do something about this!
We did. It's called the "Affordable Care Act." The GOP has made the mistake of branding it Obamacare; when it works, and people see that they're getting more options, better care, and that no, the government is not making any health care decisions or death panels, the GOP will regret this. Mitt Romney has promised to "work to repeal it" on his first day in office. I'll get into the details of it in the coming days.
We spend 141% more per person than the average country on this chart, and our life expectancy is 1.5 years less. We spend more than twice as much as Japan, and they live 5 years longer. We are not getting a good deal, at all, and this represents a tremendous burden on our economy as a whole, and the middle class.
$2,600,000,000,000. That's $2.6 Trillion, the total amount we spent on health care in 2010. We're spending more and more each year as a percentage of GDP. In other words, our spending on health care is growing at a faster rate than our economy as a whole. Since 2002, employer-sponsored health coverage for family premiums have increased by 97%, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers. Millions of uninsured Americans are getting a free-ride at the expense of the rest of us. We should do something about this!
We did. It's called the "Affordable Care Act." The GOP has made the mistake of branding it Obamacare; when it works, and people see that they're getting more options, better care, and that no, the government is not making any health care decisions or death panels, the GOP will regret this. Mitt Romney has promised to "work to repeal it" on his first day in office. I'll get into the details of it in the coming days.
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