Why is our health service getting so much stick?

What does France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Morocco, Canada, Finland, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Dominica and Costa Rica all have in common?

Answer. Well they all have health systems that were ranked higher than the USA in the 2000 World Health Organization Report (see here). Whilst I would accept criticism that this report does support a more liberal ideology that healthcare is a right and that it focuses only on five health-related statistics: health level, health distribution, responsiveness, responsiveness distribution and financial fairness. Health care like many other issues are difficult to compare across borders due to differences in demographics, economy, culture etc.., but we are not talking about the difference between 4 or 5 places here. The US is ranked 37th in the world.

Why then are the US media (FOX TV in-particular) very publicly criticising European and especially British health care? I'll get back to this but a few facts to bear in mind, taken from the CIA World Fact book and WHO statistical database (very useful) unless stated; Life expectancy in the US is 78.11 (50th in world), EU is 78.67 (41st) and the UK is 79.01 (36th). Child mortality rates in the US 6.26/1000 (180th highest in the world), in the EU it's 5,72 (182nd) and in the UK it's 4.85 (193rd). Bear in mind that the EU figures includes new EU countries Bulgaria and Romania.

So that must mean we spend more on health care; well in 2006 the US spent 15.3% of GDP and the UK 8.4%. Well the UK is a 'socialist' country apparently, so the government must be spending all their money on health care. Well again the US in 2006 under a republican government spent 19.1% of government expenditure on health care compared to 16.5% in the UK.

My aim here is not to say that the UK system is better than the US, the UK has it's problems in relation to our health service. It is very bureaucratic, it lacks consumer choice and thus innovation through competition. Some areas such as cancer care are ranked very low on a global standing (The US probably has the best Cancer care in the world, to those that can afford it). However it is nowhere near as bad as some US companies and press have been making out. Perhaps surprisingly to some Americans we also have private health care providers such as BUPA for those people that can afford or want a better service (they tend not to be very popular).
The UK is also very different from the US. We are a very over populated country, which means our health services get stretched much further than the ones in the US would do. We have an older demographic that also puts different pressures on our system. We also have a very firm belief that health care is a 'right' and that you should be entitled to a basic health service no matter your wealth but in the US 47m don't have health insurance. That is truly staggering. 47m people.

I saw Daniel Hannan on Fox News absolutely berate the NHS. Firstly, he is an MEP (Member of the EUROPEAN parliament) and sits on the fisheries and Afghanistan committees as well as being Conservative he is the MEP for my local area ( we elect parties not individuals and I certainly didn't vote for him). So what he is doing talking about the NHS on American TV I have no idea. Actually the amount of rubbish I have heard on Fox News is staggering. Kim Jong Il is sitting at home wondering what tips he can learn from Fox on how to promote propaganda. To be fair it's not just Fox News that mislay the balanced argument. Michael Moore's 'Sicko' was just as bad just in the other direction.

I have lost track, the issue I find most concerning here is perhaps not what kind of system America implements because that's for the American public to decide and I am no where near qualified enough to talk about how their system works at the moment. The issue is that a sensible honest debate can't be held anymore (not that I remember a time that it could). Media outlets are so politically biased (both left and right) that it's got to the stage where facts don't matter anymore and pure lies become acceptable. I quite often look at Politifact and constantly amazed by the amount of lies that are told by very senior influential people. I don't believe in media censorship but something has to change because people watch or read these stories and base important decisions on what they are told.

I think trying to sort this out will be one of the biggest issues facing Obama. I admire the fact that he is trying to tackle difficult issues but feel perhaps on this issue he has rushed to get too much done before proper consultation with the public. The major issue is that there is a lack of facts and too much hype on small issues. He has the ability to go out there and answer tough questions but without some media backing I fear this issue will get swept under the carpet and we'll be back to good old America, preaching to the world whilst standing on a broken chair.