U.K. Triumphs Over U.S. In Diabetes Care

Filed in archive News on August 29, 2006

And frankly, it may not be the only country to do so. Thanks to a universal healthcare system SORELY lacking in the United States, the U.K. allows patients the resources and treatment to better manage their diabetes.

"Our evidence shows that universal healthcare when treating a common disease like diabetes, works," said Professor Arch Mainous from the Medical University of South Carolina.

"In both countries, diabetes sufferers are effectively managed as outpatients and our research shows that when patients have access to free healthcare, they have better clinical outcomes.

"Importantly, this finding does not reflect income or social class since better control of the disease amongst people with insurance or free access persists in both countries even among poor patients and minorities.

"A system like the NHS in the UK, which provides universal coverage free at the point of use, may be a model for the USA to examine more closely considering that it spends substantially more of its GDP on healthcare yet has approximately 44 million people without insurance," Professor Mainous said.

As an American, news like this both angers and shames me. Why can't the U.S. adopt a universal healthcare system such as one that so many countries, including the U.K. and Canada, benefit from? We're barraged with stories every day about the diabetes 'crisis,' but what are our lawmakers doing about it? Nothing, as long as pharmaceuticals continues to be such a lucrative industry.

Do you live within a Managed care, or universal healthcare, system? What would you like to see change?