Universal Healthcare Won't Fix Everything

Obamacare has expanded healthcare coverage to 10 million people, spending growth has declined, and preventable hospital errors decreased by 17% from 2010 to 2013.

The World Health Organization encourages universal health care for every country; however, this goal does not seem attainable. The biggest obstacle is that a focus on quantity of care will override the quality and efficiency of care, causing the majority of money spent to be ineffective. It would be a waste to use scarce resources on the expansion of failing healthcare systems.

Studies have been conducted to determine whether extending universal health coverage in developing countries is effective or not. Only 5 out of 18 studies have had positive results, such as a reduction of death rates and sickness.

Overall, a relationship has not been identified between the levels of health expenditures and health outcomes at a given income per head. There also is no correlation between the number of doctors and nurses and health outcomes.

The gap between health inputs and outcomes can be largely attributed to the low quality of care. The high mortality rates in developing are also due to a lack of infrastructure and public health intervention. Moreover, some of the medical systems can do little, except offer palliative care.

Summary by MedicalGroups.com

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