I read an interesting piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review about the US health care system.
Did you know:
1. The Us spent $2.6 trillion in health care in 2011 and according to US Health and Human Services will be spending 25% of GDP by 2025
2. Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partially due to medical expenses
3. Despite such spending US health indicators are among the worst of high income countries in the world. Since 1960 the US dropped from 12th to 46th in infant mortality[below Cuba and Slovenia] and 16th to 36th in life expectancy[ below Cypress and Chile]. In ceratin neighborhoods Baltimore Chicago, and LA life expectancy for subsets of population is lower than Bangladesh
4. In 1960 half of doctors in the US worked in primary care. Today barely 30% and it is getting worse
5. From 2000 to 2005 the percentage of US medical school graduates who chose to enter primary care dropped from 14% to8%
Clearly we have a serious problem. For the entire article go to http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/realigning_health_with_care
I received a question from a small business owner. See below. Are any of you experiencing this problem.
Scott Hauge
President
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Today we had an age old problem rear its ugly head again and I wondered if other businesses have the same problem. That being long contracts with uniform companies, alarm companies, copier companies and for us most recently phone companies that have such stringent rules and short windows to cancel before an “automatic” renewal takes place and you get stuck for more time and more money.
This one put us over the edge. Three year Telepacific contract expired at the end of June, we began negotiating with them in March and now we are told it’s too late to give notice. They needed 60 day written notice within a 30 day window of 60 days before 6/27 but not more than 90 day before, we are stuck for another year. Although I am not done fighting this particular situation, I continue to wonder why there are so many notifications required of business, however these companies do not have to notify their clients of upcoming automatic renewals and one’s options for not renewing in advance of the dates after such long contracts.
That’s all, just wondering if our misery has been experienced by other small business having to use services of big business.
Thank you,
Susan Frey
Bill’s Ace Hardware,
Martinez, CA
925 228 6150 x106
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1 comment:
There are about 12 million illegals. Most are young, healthy, migrant workers. Very few of them use medical services because doing so risks discovery and deportation.
I imagine the the millions and millions more are stolen from the treasury by their American employers paying them under the table and avoiding payroll taxes than is spent on emergency life/limb saving medical treatment. And when it comes to work life threatening work injury, you can thank their employer too for you the tax payer having pick up that tab, because they don't insure than as the law requires and certainly aren't going to pay for it.
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