segunda-feira, janeiro 21, 2008

O Modelo Sicko Americano


A explicação da baixa diminuição do número de "mortes evitáveis" do gráfico publicado no Ladrões de Bicicletas, apesar da elevada verba gasta em cuidados de saúde nos EUA, é nos dada com muita clareza por Jeremy Rifkin:

"When it came to evaluating the fairness of the countries' health care, the US ranked 44th, or the last place among the OECD nations.
(...) the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation of the world, according to the OECD - $4,900 per person in 2001. Most of the increased cost is attributable to the high administrative costs and margins associated with running a for-profit health-care system. Moreover, because so many millions of Americans are ininsured, they cannot afford preventive care and do not attend to an illness at the outset. Waiting until the ilness has advanced to a crisis increases the medical cost significantly (...) this is a perfect example of the disconnect between the measure of pure economic activity, reflected in the GDP, and the quality of life a society enjoys."

"The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream", Jeremy Rifkin, ed. Polity, 2004, pag. 80

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