Health Care
Floor Speech
HEALTH CARE -- (Senate - May 14, 2008)
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, free market fundamentalism tells us that all we have to do is get Government out of the way and the miraculous powers of competition and supply and demand will solve all our problems. This is a cardinal principle of the administration now in power. They have had 7 1/2 years to test their theory, and the results--for our economy and America's working families--has been a disaster. They have put their theory to work, and it has thrown Americans out of work. The middle class in America is shrinking and suffering. Today, more Americans are falling out of the middle class than are working their way into it.
A new poll by the respected Kaiser Family Foundation provides a sobering look at the economic situation and the reality of economics in America today. The Kaiser Foundation asked people about seven economic trends or changes that they considered serious problems. Forty-four percent of Americans said problems paying for gasoline is a serious problem for their family's financial well-being. Twenty-nine percent said problems getting a good-paying job or a raise are serious. Twenty-eight percent of Americans said problems in paying for health care and health insurance were serious and hurting their economic well-being. Those are the top three economic strains on family budgets: The price of gasoline, jobs--good-paying jobs--and paying for health care.
They also rated serious problems when they were asked about the strains and problems their families face. Problems paying for mortgage or rent: One out of five. Problems paying for food and credit card debt: One out of five. Losing money in the stock market: About one out of six.
We have heard a lot said about the strain the record gas prices are placing on families and our economy. Yet in the midst of all this, with the knowledge of what it is doing to our economy, to families, to businesses, to farmers, big oil companies continue to rake in record profits at the expense of the American economy.
I wish to take a few minutes to talk about another economic problem that is hurting America's families and businesses: out-of-control health care costs. A recent essay in Newsweek magazine contained an eye-opening title: ``The Myth of the Best in the World.''
I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Congressional Record.
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Mr. DURBIN. This column points out that the United States spent almost $7,000 per person on medical care last year--$6,697 per capita. That is the highest in the world. It is 20 percent more per person than the next highest spending nation of Luxembourg, and it is more than twice as much as the 30 wealthiest countries around the world.
In a survey of over 1,000 adults, the Harvard School of Public Health and Harris Interactive found that 55 percent thought the United States had the best-quality care in the world.
The fact that we spend so much per person may lead people to that conclusion--that we have the best care. After all, we spend the most money. Yet the facts tell us otherwise. The highest cost doesn't mean the highest quality. We rank below other nations in many critical health outcomes. There is no doubt in my mind if I were seriously ill in any part of the world, I would try to find my way to the United States. There is no question we have the very best doctors, the very best medical professionals, hospitals, and medical technology.
But when you take a step back and look at the outcomes for the American people, it tells a different story. The 5-year survival rate for cervical cancer in the United States--cervical cancer--is worse than Italy, Ireland, Germany, and many others. The survival rate for breast cancer in the United States is worse than the survivor rate in Switzerland, Norway, Britain, and other nations. Our asthma mortality rate is twice the rate of Germany and Sweden. True, we have the best hospitals but not the best outcomes, in many instances.
Only 66 percent of U.S. patients receive treatments that scientific studies show to work, such as beta blockers for heart disease, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to a 2007 survey by the Independent Commonwealth Fund, adults in the United States are more likely to forgo needed health care than adults in Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Nearly one out of five American adults surveyed said they have serious problems paying medical bills. That is more than double the rate in the next highest country. Nearly a third of those surveyed had spent more than $1,000 out of pocket in the last year on medical costs not covered by insurance. Only one out of five Australians and one out of eight Canadians spent that much money on out-of-pocket health expenses. No other nation came even close.
Seven years ago, the World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. The top two nations in the world: France and Italy. The United States did not even make the top 10; not even the top 20. We ranked 37th in the world, according to the World Health Organization, when it came to our health care systems. We have this vanity in the United States that because we spend so much money on health care, we must be the best in the world. It is not true.
More people die each year from medical and surgical mistakes in the United States than in any other industrialized nation. Incidentally, more Americans die of medical mistakes each year than die from AIDS, breast cancer, and automobile accidents combined.
In health information technology, we lag far behind. By 2005, the United Kingdom had invested 450 times more per person in public funding of health information than the United States. We rank the highest in infant mortality among 23 nations and near the bottom in healthy life expectancy at age 60. We are 15th among 19 countries in deaths from a wide range of illnesses that would not have been fatal if treated timely and in an effective way. We do well in reducing smoking, but we still have the worst rates of obesity.
When you get beyond the myths and look at the studies, it becomes clear. The quality of a nation's health care is determined not by how much we spend but by whether we provide universal care that works. The United States is the only major industrialized nation without universal health coverage. We cannot give an assurance to every single American that they will have a doctor at hand when they need one. We can't give them the assurance that they can have basic access to needed health care when they absolutely need it for their family. Other nations have met that responsibility. We have not.
Ironically, the persistent and unfounded belief that Americans receive the best health care is a major reason why we don't move toward change and don't move toward providing the peace of mind which every American and every American family deserves. The health care and insurance companies spend millions of dollars to frighten Americans into thinking that covering everyone with health insurance will somehow mean less coverage for others and less choice for Americans who already have health insurance. That is a scare tactic. Look at all the other countries in the world that have better health care at much lower cost. By the way, when it comes to health care choice--especially choice of doctors--a third of Americans with health insurance say they had to change doctors in the last 3 years because their insurance company insisted on it. One out of three Americans. So the idea that consumers are in charge of their own health care choices is belied by that statistic.
There is no reason why we can't build a better health care system in America that lowers costs, covers everybody, and makes us a healthier nation. One of the first steps is to get beyond the myths and the vanity and actually look at the facts.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
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