Here's why ObamaCare won't improve (or worsen) cancer death rates
The U.S. and Canada have almost identical cancer death rates, according to a set of charts released by the World Health Organization. This despite the fact that Canada has a nationalized, single-payer system and the U.S. is transitioning from a private system to a hybrid public-private system that includes subsidies for private insurance.
Cancer death rates are just a tiny snapshot of a corner of a health care system. But the statistics tap into our worst fears and biggest hopes about health care. Will there be death panels? Would universal health care mean more screening and fewer deaths?
The data show that overall annual cancer death rates for 2009 were almost identical at 0.2 percent for Canada and 0.17 percent for the U.S. The biggest killer for both countries was lung cancer. In Canada, 28 percent of male cancer deaths and 25 percent of female cancer deaths were attributable to lung cancer. In the U.S., lung cancer claimed the lives of 30 percent of male cancer patients and 25 percent of female cancer patients. Breast cancer killed 15 percent of female cancer patients in both the U.S. and Canada, while prostate cancer was responsible for 10 percent of make cancer deaths in both countries. Colorectal cancer death rates were 11 percent in Canada and 9 percent in the U.S.
What the stats show is that it doesn't really matter what kind of health care system we have. What does matter?
1. Prevention matters. But cancer screening rates look to be tied much more closely to a country's socio-economic status (and possibly its mature drug/device industry) than the type of health system it has.
Health Care/Life Sciences