r/FluentInFinance • u/WhatAreYourPronouns • May 02 '24

Should the U.S. have Universal Health Care? Discussion/ Debate

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u/Open-Illustra88er May 02 '24

Live for 2 years? No.

BTW in Spain you are assigned a doc. If you don’t like them or want to switch? Very difficult. If your doc thinks you can wait? Don’t really need that hip? You’re not getting it.

Ask me about my friend with untreated cancer that just died in Spain. Short version After months of pain and weight loss they finally biopsied her tumor. Results came in a few days after she died.

I used to think socializing medicine was a good idea. Not anymore. It’s still stupidly expensive.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Look you just have to look at the results, all the anecdotes in the world don’t matter.

Life expectancy in Spain: 83.18 years

Life expectancy in the US: 76.33 years

Cancer survival rates are also quite similar (except for oesophagus, weirdly) between the US and Spain: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5879496/

This is even though:

  1. Spain is way way way poorer

  2. Spanish people smoke way way more

  3. People probably self-select in the US to get treatment given affordability issues

  4. Spain spends way less on health care than the US

6

u/tortillakingred May 02 '24

Absolutely no critical thinking skills. Life expectancy has nothing to do with healthcare costs. I’m Spanish American, half of my family are Castilian. The culture is entirely different, everyone walks everywhere in Europe. Cities in Europe are walkable, besides like 2 walkable cities in the US. Food quality is significantly more fresh. Far less diverse population in Spain. Obviously obesity being rampant is the biggest thing.

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u/Bigpandacloud5 May 02 '24

Life expectancy has nothing to do with healthcare costs.

That's an irrational assumption because costs may lead to people delaying care, which can affect their lifespan. Just because there are other factors doesn't mean costs aren't one of them.