Accurate healthcare statistics perverted by politicians who attach wrong causality and conclusions

Lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, 47 million uninsured Americans and rising costs are statistics commonly used to convince America we need to throw out our current system and let the government ‘make it better.’ The most dangerous part of these figures is they are accurate; but politicians attach the wrong causality and draw faulty conclusions which could make the quality of our system much worse.

Statistic: The United States has lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality than Canada

Faulty Conclusion: Canada’s ‘superior’ national health insurance system is the primary cause

Reality: The difference in health outcomes has more to do with social forces than the health system: Americans are more likely to be obese than Canadians. (The Japanese have the longest life expectancy and obesity rate of only 3%). Deaths by accident and homicide are almost 50% higher for American men in their 20’s. Teenage pregnancy and low birth weights are far more common in the U.S. Comparing national health outcomes and assuming that the health system is the sole driver is grossly misleading.

Statistic: Some 47 million Americans do not have health insurance

Faulty Conclusion: All 47 million are totally incapable of getting healthcare today

Reality: Everyone in this country has access to healthcare – visit your local Emergency Room. Of the 47 million cited who lack health insurance, 10 million are not citizens. Millions more are eligible for Medicaid but have not applied. 18 million have household incomes above $50,000 and could afford insurance. About a quarter of the uninsured have been offered employer-provided coverage but declined. It is true that there millions left truly without access to insurance, but any reform should focus on this group and avoid disrupting the system that works for the vast majority of Americans.

Statistic: Health costs are consuming an ever increasing share of the American incomes.

Faulty Conclusion: This must be the unfair result of a corrupt, greedy private healthcare-industrial complex

Reality: When medical technology consisted of willow sticks and leaches, our expenditures were very low. Costs have grown as medical technology and pharmacology have progressed. Every year we come up with a new machine that can diagnose disease or a drug that can cure illness or extend lives. And the reason we have such miraculous advancements – profit motive.

This article is distilled from “Beyond Those Health Care Numbers” by Gregory Mankiw, originally published in the New York Times 11/4/07.