The US Covid Recovery is Exceptional. Why? What did it do different?

[BadPinkTink]

The US is a republic, unlike most countries, and the national government is constrained by our constitution from imposing its will on our states.

My country, Ireland was named by the OP in the first post. My country is also a Republic, with a constitution.

 

[godisney14]

We don't lack universal health care. Nobody goes without health care -- it is unethical for doctors to refuse to treat patients, and they don't do that.

We do not have universal federal government provided healthcare insurance. Big difference.

I think you’re referring to EMTALA.
That does not provide necessary health care.

 

[wvjules]

I don't see an option to report an entire thread for violating the rules. Perhaps that's something these boards need. There is no good outcome from this IMHO.

Then don't participate?

 

[Colleen27]

I think you’re referring to EMTALA.
That does not provide necessary health care.

Yep. That means you'll get stabilizing emergency care. It is no help if you need chemo or insulin or ongoing care for chronic illness. It is something, but it isn't the same as having access to adequate health care.

And of course, it says nothing about billing... many people avoid even that minimal level of health care out of fear of the hundreds or thousands of dollars in bills that will pour in if they do seek care.

 

[JimMIA]

My country, Ireland was named by the OP in the first post. My country is also a Republic, with a constitution.

Sure, and there are other countries that are republics where the national government is restrained and regional governments have significant powers. That's why I used the word "most."

I'm not familiar with Ireland's Covid situation at all (despite proudly being about 10% Irish!). Did you address Covid with one national policy, or regional approaches, or a combination like the US?

 

[RamblingMad]

When compared to countries in Asia that have handled it better than the US:

There’s a great disparity with diet(!), lifestyle (mode of transportation), scientific facts vs ideology, broader healthcare and social welfare coverage, beliefs in privacy/freedom, and very importantly, individualism vs collectivism.

I would argue that Asia handled it better because of their experience with SARS. We didn’t go through that like they did.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Sure, and there are other countries that are republics where the national government is restrained and regional governments have significant powers. That's why I used the word "most."

I'm not familiar with Ireland's Covid situation at all (despite proudly being about 10% Irish!). Did you address Covid with one national policy, or regional approaches, or a combination like the US?

You should read this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/covid-and-the-rest-of-us.3808745/ I have been updating over the last few months about whats been happening in Ireland.

We have one national policy, with the Irish Government working with the Chief Medial Officer. The Chief Medical Officer is in charge of the National Public Health Emergency Team. They release daily figures of positive cases and deaths. Its The Chief Medical Officer who holds regular press conferences at The Department of Health. Our Prime Minister and other Government officials only talk at the press conferences if there is a specific reason.

We also have an official phone AP which is a trace and trace, as well as Covid Updates. The AP pulls data from this website https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/ which is Ireland's Covid 19 Data Hub.

Covid 19 decisions for education up to highschool graduation are made at national level.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

No clear message at a national level left each state to form their own response (and adherence to that response was highly correlated to your personal politics). If you live near a border with a state that has decided to form a policy not based on epidemiology... good luck.

We don't lack universal health care. Nobody goes without health care -- it is unethical for doctors to refuse to treat patients, and they don't do that.

We do not have universal federal government provided healthcare insurance. Big difference. The US is a republic, unlike most countries, and the national government is constrained by our constitution from imposing its will on our states.

Plenty go without health care due to costs. Yes, they can't deny care in an emergency room but that doesn't mean people aren't discouraged from seeking treatment.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@JimMIA
also forgot to add, we have a national mask mandate when using public transport and indoors in any commercial or retail space.

 

[godisney14]

I would argue that Asia handled it better because of their experience with SARS. We didn’t go through that like they did.

That experience likely helped.
To note, though, Japan had 0 cases and South Korea had 3 cases total during that outbreak.

Do you believe this country and the citizens will collectively change response behavior and perception if there were to be another novel viral spread in the future? I certainly hope so. But, some populations across the country gives me a little doubt. This comes back to the differences I mentioned earlier.

 

[RamblingMad]

That experience likely helped.
To note, though, Japan had 0 cases and South Korea had 3 cases total during that outbreak.

Do you believe this country and the citizens will collectively change response behavior and perception if there were to be another novel viral spread in the future? I certainly hope so. But, some populations across the country gives me a little doubt. This comes back to the differences I mentioned earlier.

I think, it needs to be far more devastating for human behavior in the US to change.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Americans are fatter than most every country - our health overall is not good.
I believe that leads to negative outcomes with Covid.

 

[JimMIA]

You should read this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/covid-and-the-rest-of-us.3808745/ I have been updating over the last few months about whats been happening in Ireland.

We have one national policy, with the Irish Government working with the Chief Medial Officer. The Chief Medical Officer is in charge of the National Public Health Emergency Team. They release daily figures of positive cases and deaths. Its The Chief Medical Officer who holds regular press conferences at The Department of Health. Our Prime Minister and other Government officials only talk at the press conferences if there is a specific reason.

We also have an official phone AP which is a trace and trace, as well as Covid Updates. The AP pulls data from this website https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/ which is Ireland's Covid 19 Data Hub.

Covid 19 decisions for education up to highschool graduation are made at national level.

Good. Your government is set up that way; ours is not.

Also, you have a population of a little less than 5 million. My county (one of 67 in the state of Florida) and the county just to the north of us have a combined population of 4.7 million. The US is vastly larger than Ireland, and has a population of more than 330 million people, and is infinitely more diverse than Ireland.

In addition, the land mass of the island of Ireland (including Northern Island) is about the same as the US state of Indiana. The land mass of the state of Florida alone is double the size of Ireland.

Big difference. Different places are different, and call for different solutions.

 

[godisney14]

Plenty go without health care due to costs. Yes, they can't deny care in an emergency room but that doesn't mean people aren't discouraged from seeking treatment.

More specifically, about 12% of Americans (adults 18-65 yo) have zero insurance and about 23% are underinsured (out-of-pocket is >10% of income, or OOP >5% for low-income, our deductible >5% of income). Most of these with none or little coverage are in Midwest and Southern states.

 

[aggiedog]

We don't lack universal health care. Nobody goes without health care -- it is unethical for doctors to refuse to treat patients, and they don't do that.

This bears repeating, again. We do NOT have universal health care. As stated, we have EMTALA, which just means you can't turn someone away from an ER. So once they determine you aren't going to lose life or limb in the next 24 hours, they send you home. And your chronic disease does not get managed, or you don't get insulin, or hypertensive meds, or any other of a long, long list of what should be routine health care. We are indeed the only first world country that does not provide affordable/free and accessible health care to essentially everyone in the country. I'm a physician. You are deluded if you think that everyone here gets the care they need. I'm in a state that elected not to expand Medicaid and that has the highest number of uninsured people in the US. I have discussions daily with patients about costs, what can we give them that will allow them to still buy groceries, how I can discount care or set up a payment plan so they aren't tempted to skip appointments or meds. I see some kids for free because I know that otherwise their parents wouldn't bring them. I simply write off a certain percentage of my billing because I'd rather do that then hound someone for money and have them stay home and go blind from their glaucoma.

And for the comment regarding AC in the south, yes, it does drive us inside in the summer. I'm in Texas. But you can't blame being inside as the major reason why the US is in this situation. The many other reasons listed are much stronger causes.

 

[usnuzuloose]

This is just an observation, in watching some reality shows I notice that people are not wearing the masks. And then hear them say in there town that the issue has been lifted and gone back to normal. Between the media and the government they try to scare alot of people. I dont wear a mask to much as I dont go out very often.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm in a state that elected not to expand Medicaid and that has the highest number of uninsured people in the US.

You are also in the state that has the second-highest population in the United States.

 

[Heather07438]

Americans are fatter than most every country - our health overall is not good.
I believe that leads to negative outcomes with Covid.

Too much processed foods on average and there's many reasons for that.

 

[mara512]

I don't see an option to report an entire thread for violating the rules. Perhaps that's something these boards need. There is no good outcome from this IMHO.

It is disheartening that you believe just from the first post that mature adults can't have an intelligent conversation about this. You didn't even give the thread a chance.

 

[aggiedog]

In 2018, 17.7% of Texas residents — about 5 million people — had no health coverage, up from 17.3% in 2017. Both years, Texas had almost double the number of uninsured people compared with the national average of 8.7% in 2017 and 8.9% in 2018. It was one of only nine states to record an increase in the uninsured rate.

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/10/texas-has-most-people-without-health-insurance-nation-again/
It's not just numbers, it's also the percentage of the population. Only 5 other states had more than 12% uninsured - Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma. California's (the most populous state) uninsured rate is 8.5%.

• In the first half of 2020, 43.4 percent of U.S. adults ages 19 to 64 were inadequately insured. This is statistically unchanged from the last time we fielded the survey in 2018.
• The adult uninsured rate was 12.5 percent. In addition, 9.5 percent of adults were insured but had a gap in coverage in the past year and 21.3 percent were underinsured. These findings are also statistically unchanged from 2018.

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/pu.../looming-crisis-health-coverage-2020-biennial
Ultimately, the statement "nobody goes without health care" is simply wrong, no matter which state you are in, though some states get closer than others.