Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The costs of health care

The next time you hear a politician or pundit lamenting the costs of health care remember this: As of 2006, an estimated 11,400,000 adults and children were LIVING with cancer in the United States, and that number is estimated to increase to nearly 17,000,000 by 2020. (JAMA, citing http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/) It costs a lot of money to LIVE with a chronic condition--more than to die of a fatal one. People living with a chronic condition are also benefitting from research on diet, exercise and weight, and when you throw that into the mix--and we all benefit from that--the bill goes even higher.

4 comments:

Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com said...

You guys need to get the British healthcare thing pushed through. People over here always complain about British healthcare but it's seriously good compared to most places. It's got universal coverage at least.

Anonymous said...

Murray sez:
All we need Richard is to clean up what we have. We could do that at minimal cost if we could subtract the corruption that exists in our government out of the equation!

gordon gekko said...

Richard

There's a big difference between coverage and actual care.

That's the big canard in this whole ruse.

Norma said...

At least? Is that the basis for good health or is it results.