The new (June 2011) '
OECD Health Data 2011' report shows the latest insights in health spending costs. Here are some results for the main OECD countries:
Health Costs
Total health spending accounted on average for 9.5% of the GDP for all OECD countries (main countries: 9.8%).
Public health is a substantial part of health funding in all OECD countries.
Control Health Costs
Key question is: will relative 'big rising spenders' like The Netherlands and the U.S., be able to control their health costs in the near future?
Besides the fact that health costs undoubtedly rise sharply with age, the bulk of 'annual health spending growth' depends
mainly on overall population growth, increases in the health prices and the introduction of new high-cost medical products and treatments used by all age groups.
In controlling health costs, the most difficult an challenging question is in fact:
What are we trying to maximize
with the help of health investment costs?
Our first answer could be :
Maximize Health.
In practice we (countries in the world) haven't explicitly defined what we try to maximize... Unfortunately discussing health costs without a clear goal, is an endless road, leading nowhere.... A Health Mission Impossible.....
On top of, 'Health' is - at its best - a non defined subjective perception.....
Let's dive deeper on this theme of perception. Can we grasp it?
Health Perception
As in every corner of (your) life
Perception = Reality
Therefore let's take a look at how health is perceived by people in different countries. For a global 'health perception picture' we have to fall back on
self-reported health status figures of around 2006-2007:
As is clear Canada and the U.S. are clear 'feeling healthy' champions, with Japan as poorest performer.
Quality and Quantity of Life
To examine whether the self-reported health status indicator (representing the quality of life) also indicates a 'longer life expectancy' (representing the quantity of life), here is the '
life expectancy indicator'.
Surprisingly the results are - at first sight - counter intuitive:
- Japan, with the poorest health perception, scores best in longevity
- The U.S., with the almost best health perception, scores worst in longevity
'Good health' and 'life expectancy'
It is known that elderly people report a less than average good healthy condition.
Unfortunately, as the next diagram indicates, there's no convincing direct relationship between 'perceived good health' and 'life expectancy' or 'median age' (as explaining variables) :
Reference: Japan Explained?
First of all there's a relationship between Economy and Health:
Though declining, more than 50% of all respondents in this survey say that "people's health will get worse".
What's even of more concern, is that younger people are experiencing an increasing feeling of nervousness during the last decades.
This survey supports the idea that perceptions of 'health' and 'happiness' are more or less embedded in a nations' culture and not related to the investments in health.
Find out more on what's going on in Japan beneath the surface on:
Assessment of the Japanese Economy
It's all about Happiness
What remains is that it's all about happiness in life....
And of course happiness and good health are 'somewhat' and 'somehow'
related:
Just as Communication, your Actuarial, Investment or Financial Models are also context (economic, fiscal, ethics) and time dependent.
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