It was incredible to learn how much we have spent on healthcare in the past year: 2.3 trillion dollars. This breaks down to 7,500 dollars per capita. The next highest per capita country is Switzerland, but they merely spend around 3,000 dollars for each citizen. Perhaps it was ignorant, but I had always assumed that the U.S. spent less on healthcare than other countries, considering all the debate it. One of the most interesting things about this is that the United States is one of the most unhealthy developed countries even though we spend so much. We have less doctors, lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality. If you want to read more about this, you can read this article because it touches on a lot of what we discussed tonight.
We also discussed how women use more healthcare than men. They live longer but eventually are sicker. It was fascinating that the professor made it seem so obvious when he drew a simple parallel when explaining why this occurs. He talked about males inability to ask for directions when they get lost driving; men also do not go to the doctor when they have a health problem. This inevitably leads to their death. Yet the single strongest predictor of male life expectancy is whether or not they are married. That nagging wife that makes her husband ask for directions or go to the doctor inevitably makes him live longer. Who woulda thunk? It was such a simple explanation for this difference, but in reality it made a lot of sense. I would like to have seen some statistical backup to such a claim, but I certainly wouldn't doubt it.
At the end of the talk, we talked about caregiving which is a pretty controversial issue. We watched a clip about elderly persons who could not take care of themselves whom needed 24/7 care. We discussed how this is a problem that we didn't have to face until recently because just 100 years ago, the most common reasons for death were things that killed us quickly--now we die slow deaths like cancer and it is super expensive to cover such caregiving.
The video showed people whos quality of life was so diminished that some of the people in the room thought they would rather be dead. Some said of course they would rather be spoon-fed and on bed rest for months on end because at least they would be alive. In all reality, I find it extremely difficult to have a true opinion on this matter because I haven't yet had to deal with the effects of long-term caregiving for a loved one, although I do expect that at some point in my lifetime, that will unfortunately occur many times.
This was a really interesting discussion and I hope to be able to attend the future talks next Spring that revolve around similar topics. I think that this is something we need to be talking about more because it is such a huge issue and such a difficult thing for people to really feel comfortable discussing.
This issue of the cost of end of life care is one that will be more and more critical in coming years as our population begins to age. The amount of money spent on healthcare is astronomical. The fact that we spend $3000 per person on healthcare is shocking. Even more so, the fact that we are still one of the unhealthiest developed nation is rather unsettling considering the amount of money we spend.
ReplyDeleteThe ethical issues raised by the cost of end of life care are particularly disconcerting. Do we spend billions to keep our oldest and least productive citizens alive, or do we try to save money so that the younger generation is not saddled with the burden of caring for the older generation? Considering how up in arms half of our country gets about stopping a pregnancy, I the idea of someone actually tackling this issue from an economically pragmatic angle is inconceivable.
Personally, my grandfather went through a long and drawn out process as he died rather slowly from a bone marrow disease. We knew a good two years before he died pretty much when he would die down to the month. He had expensive treatments, hospice care and even a nurse who came daily in the last six months. All in all, thousands of dollars were spent to keep this man in his 80s alive. While his bills were funded by his army pension, others in this situation are drawing on programs such as medicare and social security, which are far less sustainable. Still, I can't deny that I was glad for him to live those few extra years, despite the costs. I know I can't place a monetary evaluation on the cost of someone's life, and I don't know how anyone else will be able to.