Professor hosts lecture on health care

The U.S. spends more on health care than other developed nations.

By Justin Yang

Published Sept. 25, 2009

As health care legislation comes to a head, professor Jeff Milyo gave a lecture to a group of students on the economic impact of proposed reform.

Milyo, who spoke Wednesday afternoon in Middlebush Hall, cited many statistics about America's health care system during his presentation. He said $7,500 per capita was spent on health care in 2007 in the U.S. This was double that of Norway or Ireland and 40 to 50 percent more than Canada and the U.K.

"People are consuming more and more health care simply because they want to," Milyo said.

Later in the lecture, Milyo presented various studies and statistics from the American Journal of Public Health and the Institute of Medicine about the lack of health care. He said they were inaccurate due to the way they were researched. The American Journal of Health Insurance only compares the death rate of the privately insured and the uninsured.

"These studies aren't distinguishing well between correlation and causation," he said.

Milyo went on to say health insurance did not have any significant effect on mortality rates for most of the uninsured. He said the effects of a lack of health insurance in the U.S. could be seen the most in the elderly, those with HIV and poor, single women.

Milyo said those who couldn't afford health insurance were more likely to spend their income on housing, food and education. Those who can afford health insurance, but choose not to buy it, spend most of their money on travel, cars and housing instead.

"Giving insurance to everyone is more charity than insurance," Milyo said. "Private insurances shouldn't be forced to give insurance to everyone."

Milyo, referring to a study, said mortality rates between the health care system in the U.S. and Canada were the same. The only difference, he said, was hospital wait times in Canada are longer.

When one student asked what would happen if everyone was required to have health insurance, Milyo said insurance agencies would simply not sell to certain people. He also said the government would have trouble trying to enforce a mandated health insurance policy, because the insurance companies know how to avoid government regulations.

Sophomore Will Shoemaker attended the lecture because he said he wanted to learn more about an already very complex issue.

"I thought it was very important to be informed about this issue," he said. "I've always wanted to stay informed about such a confusing issue, what better way to get input than from a distinguished professional?"

Sophomore Chris Kemp said he has been paying attention to debate over the issue.

"One of my aunts cannot afford insurance because of her pre-existing conditions, and the insurance charges her high rates," he said. "It adds a personal tie to the whole health care debate."