Another Liberal Fraud Exposed

[Extra Stout]

This article doesn't address the fact that the U.S. is behind 33 other countries (many of them much poorer than we are) when it comes to infant mortality rate, and I strongly doubt much of that disparity can be attributed to homicides and auto accidents.

But can it be tied to our lack of socialized health care? That is the question.

The infant mortality rate in the U.S. is something like 6.3 per 1000 live births. A rate of 4.5 is typical for a geneous, developed Western European country.

Population makeup appears to make a difference. Controlling for socioeconomic status, Asians and Latinos have the lowest infant mortality rates and blacks have the highest. Blacks in the U.S. have an infant mortality rate of something like 13 per 1000 live births. The estimates of what African-American IM would be if they had equal access to health care vary widely. I even looked into Afro-Cuban IM rates compared to Cuba as a whole (Cuba's IM rates are a little lower thanb the U.S.'s, officially), to see if I could draw any parallels, but estimates varied from 4 to 24 depending upon the agenda of the reporter.

As a very speculative number, I will go with the Daily Kos estimate that, controlling for socioeconomic status, black infant mortality is twice that of non-Hispanic whites. So, that gives us a goal of 9. Barring anything better, I will use that.

Native Americans have similarly high rates. Put Blacks and Native Americans together, and they comprise 15% of the population. Taking that into account, we get a goal for infant mortality of 5.3 per 1000 live births.

So what accounts for the difference between the 5.3 that would be comparable to similarly developed countries and the 6.3 we actually achieve? The biggest difference between us and those other countries is our high rate of pre-term births.

So what are the risk factors for pre-term births, and can we observe a significant difference in the prevalence of those risk factors between the U.S. and comparable nations?

1) Pre-natal care -- the U.S. lags in access to pre-natal care.
2) Drug and alcohol use -- the U.S. has greater drug and alcohol abuse rates than other countries.
3) Obesity and obesity-related diseases -- the U.S. has a greater rate of obesity.
4) Previous abortion -- the U.S. has higher abortion rates.
5) African or Native American ethnicity -- already incorporated into the IM "goal" rate.
5) Stressful life events -- too vague to evaluate.
6) Working long hours standing up -- found no data.
7) Previous vaginal infections -- found no data.

Our drug and alcohol abuse rates, our obesity, and our abortion rates have to do either with cultural factors or with health factors outside the scope of discussion of socialized health care (such as sex education). I don't know how much each factor contributes to the shortfall.

The access to pre-natal care is they biggest issue related to infant mortality that health care reform could address. If we make the invalid assumption that it alone could get us to 5.3, we would improve from 45th to 39th on the list. Most likely we would be somewhere in between.

[Bender]

does our IM rate include ones killed or abandoned on purpose? ie 'dumpster babies'...

[Wild Cobra]

This article doesn't address the fact that the U.S. is behind 33 other countries (many of them much poorer than we are) when it comes to infant mortality rate, and I strongly doubt much of that disparity can be attributed to homicides and auto accidents.

You are really a stupid ass.

I just read Xtra-Stouts comments to you. That's the problems with many of you who criticize things, and why I call people lib s. You listen to sound bites, and don't have the intelligence or tenacity to fact check.

Another factor in infant mortality rate is that some countries don't count the numbers until they are alive and well for a day, sometimes a week. Besides that, we have a nation of losers. It's not because of lack of health care, but how many pregnant women treat themselves.

The fact (if true) that we are 33rd doesn't mean unless you are able to consider things when "all other factors are equal!"

[iManu]

Even though some of the whatever 40 million (half the population of Germany) don't have health insurance in the U.S. and they may sometimes still receive emergency care and some other perks, they don't receive enough: driving up everyone's health care when these pariahs are older and dying.

But, of course, HMOs have been physically dropping them off in the street (challenge me on that one.)

A natural part of frustrating compe ion is violence (go watch the zoo, and if you don't think people are animals, I know a few that you should meet.)

Bad health care scenario: (why my young friend will not live as long as me.) My 19 year old friend's alcoholic father had a stroke, and so he takes care of his father. His father had very mediocre health insurance from the factory that allowed him to stay in a very nice hospital for a week or so... then he was moved 30 miles away (while still not being able to move his legs or speak in anything but a number mash) to a real dump. My friend drove his bicycle 30 miles 2-3 times a week (when he could balance work) to see his father. During this time, he fell off his bike, scratched his face,

And now walks with a limp.

You see, he didn't have health care and I unfortunately don't see him "pulling himself up by the bootstraps."

I imagine he'll drink, too.... limp around, do drugs, keep on smoking, keep on resenting the flashy college kids, and when he gets sick, he won't see a Doctor, I imagine he'll still go to work and work very hard, just like he does, everyday.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet I survive him.

But, I wouldn't gamble with lives.

[Bartleby]

You are really a stupid ass.

I just read Xtra-Stouts comments to you. That's the problems with many of you who criticize things, and why I call people lib s. You listen to sound bites, and don't have the intelligence or tenacity to fact check.

Another factor in infant mortality rate is that some countries don't count the numbers until they are alive and well for a day, sometimes a week. Besides that, we have a nation of losers. It's not because of lack of health care, but how many pregnant women treat themselves.

The fact (if true) that we are 33rd doesn't mean unless you are able to consider things when "all other factors are equal!"

I was just making an observation. You don't have to be a total wad about it.

[Yonivore]

This article doesn't address the fact that the U.S. is behind 33 other countries (many of them much poorer than we are) when it comes to infant mortality rate, and I strongly doubt much of that disparity can be attributed to homicides and auto accidents.

You're right, it's attributed to the fact we have the highest incidence of premature live births...that, unfortunately die. We're 33rd because the other 32, for the most part, can't keep them alive if they're too premature and just chalk it up to still birth and therefore, it doesn't get factored into the infant mortality rate.

[Wild Cobra]

I was just making an observation. You don't have to be a total wad about it.

Why even bring such a statistic up without knowing details? It's just meaningless tripe. You're the wad for wasting time with what becomes nothing more than propaganda.

[jav]

Here is a link to an outline the authors did for a presentation. Has graphs and tables.
http://www.aei.org/docLib/20061017_O...esentation.pdf

From what I understand, the proposed reforms resemble the Swiss system more than any other. Switzerland is ranked a close second to the US on the table after homicides are taken out of the equation. If the reforms mean more people are able to afford insurance and quality is not decreased while potentially lowering costs, why would anyone be against that? Maybe I'm being pollyannaish, but the current system is not sustainable and reforms are needed.

[iManu]

Wild Cobra, Sir, you do name call, a lot... and I feel kind of bad saying that,
because that makes me a name-caller, too.

But, maybe I shouldn't try to help you advance your diplomacy and feelings of dignity, because we have very separate views... after all, I couldn't help Ann Coulter, because she does not listen.

I'm not accusing you of not listening.

I'm just saying, you're just a little bit testy, maybe it's because Oden's knees suck so bad, maybe it's because Turkoglu signed with the Raptors...

I don't know.

[iManu]