Why Is The US Ranked 37th In Health Care by WHO? Would I Really Want To Retire Here?

Hi,

When looking into retirement outside the US I came upon the startling fact the the WHO ranks the US 37th in health care. France is 1st, Italy 2nd, even Columbia, Chile and Costa Rica are ranked ahead of the US. Why is that and what are the implications for retirees?

One of my concerns about retiring elsewhere was health care quality. Because we live just outside Boston and are accustomed to first rate health and dental care.

Thanks, Gary

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Reply to
abby
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I think you got it right in the above last paragraph, as far as Doctor quality. The WHO may very well have political agendas of its own, something like the United Nations? And their ranking system may consider "stated costs" (which opens up long discussions of private v. public, and which is actually more cost efficient, which inevitably borders on political issues of "free" medical service, the "rich" v. the "poor" and the WHO probably favors "free"). Would you like to retire in France where unemployment amongst young people is what, 40%? Also note that if you retire elsewhere, you may be exposed to environmental conditions dissimilar to your developed immunities as well as to your genetic stock, and possible language problems.

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Reply to
dapperdobbs

The capitalist model of properity and success is based on the notion of private property, which in turn is based upon the very simple idea that if one has the money to buy things, then one has the free choice to buy them or not. The countervailing notion of common property has led to over 100,000,000 deaths in Russia and China alone. Choose.

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Reply to
dapperdobbs

WHO is ranking the health care SYSTEM in various countries. It looks at different parameters than you might as an individual. The major parameters of the WHO ranking are 1) good health: "making the health status of the entire population as good as possible" across the whole life cycle, 2) responsiveness: responding to people?s expectations of respectful treatment and client orientation by health care providers, and 3) fairness in financing: ensuring financial protection for everyone, with costs distributed according to one?s ability to pay.

As a retiree, you are concerned with whether you, personally, will have access to good quality medical care of the type you may require, and that you can afford. In the US you can find areas of excellent, and very accessible, health care (e.g. Boston area); and also areas where health resources are very limited. That variance may be less true in smaller, more homogenous countries.

So I guess the implications for a retiree is that, no matter where you retire, if health care quality is an issue, you need to investigate its availability and quality in the specific area to which you may retire.

--ron

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Reply to
Ron Rosenfeld

"dapperdobbs" wrote

Of course Universal Health Care by itself does not determine violence. In fact, as you should know full well, countries with Universal Health Care overwhelming have significantly superior infant mortality rates, among other health statistics. E.g. compare the U.S.'s rate of 6.4 deaths per

1000 births to Britain's, Canada's, and Japan's rates of 5.0, 4.6, and 2.8.

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Reply to
Elle

[snip]

Thank you Ron, for returning the topic to the OP's question (and not diving into the Cold War again). Excellent point you make - there are some doctors, clinics, hospitals, communities, nurses, and so forth that are better than others, investigating specifically what is available in the region or town should clear up the picture. Quality and availability probably varies by specialty as well. If an individual's genetics indicate family history of heart problems, one might check for that specialty in the town or city. There are numerous services in the U.S. screening doctors, ranking hospitals and nursing homes - there may be similar services in other countries.

The overall quality of life in retirement may be more important than health care - I believe low stress, good diet (such as a variety of fresh fruits and non-processed foods), happy people and activities may do more for one's enjoyment of living than anything a doctor can do. World-wide, health care has made vast strides, as well as very expensive ones, but I wonder if there is an element of morbid fixation on postponing death of the body?

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Reply to
dapperdobbs

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