Healthcare Below Par

The U.S.-based organization, Save The Children, has released the results of their most recent survey, and it really does not look good for the United States. In a comparison of newborn survival rates among the 33 industrialized nations, the U.S. finished next to last.

Latvia had the poorest infant survival rate, with a rate of 6 deaths per 1000 births. The United States [along with Hungary, Malta, Poland, & Slovakia] had a rate of 5 deaths per 1000 births. Japan had the best rate [1.8 out of 1000]. Several nations tied for second with a rate of 2 per 1000.

What has happened to the wonderful healthcare system we are supposed to have? It is because our system was created to be a business, with the dollar being the bottom line. In our for-profit system, those who cannot pay get poor or no medical attention. Even those in the middle class who have health insurance, can't get the care they want. They get the care the insurance is willing to pay for [and that's getting to be less each year].

There are around 41 million people without health insurance in this country. These people are the ones getting the shaft. Without proper healthcare for this many Americans, it is easy to see how our newborn death rate is much larger than it should be.

We need a single-payer system that covers ALL of our citizens. Our current system has not only failed to protect the youngest and most vulnerable, it is failing to protect many of our adults.