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One of the most bewildering aspects of the current health care debate is the failure to learn key lessons from health systems abroad. Conservative talk show hosts decry the alleged evils of "socialized medicine" in countries with universal health coverage; they warn grimly of rationed health care. Yet there's nary a peep from Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck - let alone Congress - about countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland or Japan, where coverage is universal, affordable, and top quality, and patients see private doctors with little or no waiting. And, oh yes, their health costs are a fraction of our bloated numbers: The French spend 10 percent of GDP on health care, the Germans 11 percent, and they cover every citizen. We spend a whopping 17 percent and leave tens of millions of Americans uninsured. If you want a very readable short course on how European systems really work, take a look at "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care," by T.R. Reid, a former Washington Post foreign correspondent. You might also watch a fascinating 2008 Frontline series, available online, in which Reid was an adviser: "Sick Around the World: Can the U.S. Learn Anything From the Rest of the World About How to Run a Health Care System?"

Article continued (Diigo would not highlight!?) - So far, the answer seems to be "no," not because there aren't valuable lessons, but because politicians won't relinquish their myths about European health Advertisement systems. Reid takes up that task. Myth No. 1, he says, is that foreign systems with universal coverage are all "socialized medicine." In countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan, the coverage is universal while doctors and insurers are private. Individuals get their insurance through their workplace, sharing the premium with their employer as we do - and the government picks up the premium if they lose their job. Myth No. 2 - long waits and rationed care - is another whopper. "In many developed countries," Reid writes, "people have quicker access to care and more choice than Americans do." In France, Germany, and Japan, you can pick any provider or hospital in the country. Care is speedy and high quality, and no one is turned down. Myth No. 3 really grabs my attention: the delusion that countries with universal care "are wasteful systems run by bloated bureaucracies." In fact, the opposite is true. America's for-profit health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs of any developed country. Twenty percent or more of every premium dollar goes to nonmedical costs: paperwork, marketing, profits, etc. In developed countries with universal coverage, such as France and Germany, the administrative costs average about 5 percent. That's because every developed country but ours has decided health insurance should be a nonprofit operation. These countries also hold down costs by making coverage mandatory and by using a unified set of rules and payment schedules for all hospitals and doctors. This does not mean a single-payer system or a government-run health system. But it does sharply cut health costs by eliminating the mishmash of records and charges used by our myriad insurance firms, who use all kinds of gimmi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. cancer death rates are falling, with big decreases in major killers such as colon and lung cancer, the American Cancer Society said on Wednesday.

U.S. health regulators have cautioned Australia's CSL Ltd after uncovering problems at its influenza vaccine manufacturing plant and want to meet with company officials, according to a letter released on Monday.

About half of the 65 million people in the United States who have high blood pressure now have it under control, up from 27 percent two decades ago, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Published on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) advisory committee meeting concerning all-metal hip replacements, a new study once again shows the devices cause serious problems. The authors determined that most metal-on-metal hip failures occur within the first two years after they are implanted. The study also discussed the reasons the implants fail, finding some problems more common than others.

Coffee can not only increase alertness, but also benefit your health. No wonder that, according to the National Coffee Association's 2013 online survey, 83% of adults in the U.S. drink coffee, averaging three cups of day per person. Read all about coffee benefits for your health in the article.

I believe you are familiar with roasted peanuts, but have you ever tried boiled peanuts? It's a popular snack in many Asian countries, Western Africa and Southern U.S., especially in South Carolina. In this post, I'll introduce you to this hearty vegetarian snack...

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, added sugar, previously associated mainly with obesity is now being linked to heart disease. The report states that sugars in soft drinks, processed and prepared foods are the culprits - lowering our good HDL cholesterol while raising our triglycerides

"The Electronic Privacy Information Center and consumer advocate Ralph Nader are urging President Obama to review the administration's plans to install whole body scanners at U.S. airports. In a joint letter, Marc Rotenberg, the president of EPIC, and Nader asked the president to suspend deployment of the devices until a "comprehensive evaluation" of the effectiveness of the technology and potential health hazards, is completed."

(Reuters) - Eating a lot of sugar not only makes you fat. It may also increase a person's risk for heart disease, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

According to the Alzheimer's Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving, there are 8.9 million people in the U.S. caring for someone over the age of 50 who has dementia. This is a full 20 percent of all family caregivers in this country.

Peanuts are extremely popular all over the world and especially in America. Peanuts or groundnuts belong to legume family and probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. In the 19th century peanuts became very popular in the U.S. today, leading commercial producers of peanuts are India, China, United States, Nigeria and Indonesia.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2011) - Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S., with more than 400,000 deaths each year attributable to smoking or its consequences. And yet teens still smoke. Indeed, smoking usually begins in the teen years, and approximately 80 percent of adult smokers became hooked by the time they were 18. Meanwhile, teens who don't take up smoking usually never do.

U.S. Regulators added a new warning about the potential risk of hearing loss Suddenly due to drug-selling impotence Viarga, Cialis and Levitra, the which is Used by Millions of people.

Private Health Associates, U.S. is the best online source for all your health, medical, travel and accident insurance needs. We specialize in those working or moving outside their home country. In the course of your employment if promoted or transferred abroad, you will need immediate health and accident insurance. Contact us now for a free quote and purchase online.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2011) - Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Health Promotion has been established in 2005, held in Bangkok Charter of the Organization to promote in a globalizing world "to cause people to increase their health and its influencing factors in the control process, thereby improving their health. Appears the primary means of health promotion Through the development of public health policy to meet such as income, housing, food security, employment and working conditions a prerequisite for quality health. there is a public health officials and the tendency of the government, which is particularly in places like Canada and the U.S. free country, to reduce the health promotion and health education-based social marketing case on the evolution of behavioral risk factors.

A baby born in the U.S. in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42d in the world, down from 11th twenty years earlier.