Economic Insecurity Increases Health Care Costs

Updated 8/28/08

The economic playing field in this country has always been uneven. In spite of this fact, residents of different races, ethnic backgrounds and genders have overcome tremendous obstacles to feed their families and meet the other obligations of their lives.

Now middle-class workers from all groups are competing with forces they are ill-equipped to fight. Many hard-working citizens of the United States are losing their jobs to citizens of other countries. When they lose, their health suffers.

According to the documentary Unnatural Causes, which aired on PBS, the United States government may need to study how the Swedish government protects its citizens from the adverse effects of globalization. Part seven of the documentary, titled “Not Just a Paycheck,” compares the fates of workers in Greenville, Michigan, with those in Västervik, Sweden. Workers in both cities lost their jobs when Electrolux, a manufacturer of home and professional appliances, decided to relocate its plants in those cities to other countries.

Some of the U.S. workers were unable to find new jobs. At least one family moved because the only work the breadwinner(s) could find was in another state.

Others were too overwhelmed or too broke to attend college to retrain for new careers after having worked at Electrolux for decades. One of these was a lady who had been out of school 40 years.

Still others took jobs making much less money. Pension plans and health benefits disappeared.

Some of the workers began to drink. Their families suffered. Suicide attempts, depression and domestic abuse increased. The case load at the local hospital tripled.

In contrast, 80 percent of the Swedish workers were members of a union. The union and the Swedish government made sure that Electrolux paid $3 million to help the community create new businesses. Most Swedish workers also receive 80% of their pay in unemployment benefits as long as they continue to look for work or go to school, even graduate school, with the intent of returning to the work force.

According to Thomas Östros, Minister of Industry in Sweden: “Unemployment is very bad for individuals. You lose your connection in society, you lose your democratic empowerment, but you also suffer when it comes to health. And that creates, of course, another discussion because it is a waste of resources to let people be laid off for long periods of time, or unemployed for long periods of time. But it also costs even more if you don’t do anything.”

Much of the money our country spends in military endeavors could best be spent in developing a stronger safety net for U.S. citizens. Because Sweden has not participated in any armed conflicts other than as peacekeepers since the 19th century, the government has more money to spend on its people. Swedes also are guaranteed health care, five-weeks paid vacation and 16-months paid leave for new parents, among other benefits.

The Swedes pay much higher taxes than we do for all this security. Their health is better as well. They rank ninth in life expectancy among 223 countries, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook. The United States ranks 47th. Even Israel is 13th, and Canada ranks 7th.

Sweden has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) about equal to ours when adjusted for size. About 57 percent of that is government expenditures compared to about 33 percent here. The United States, however, spends 16 percent of combined government and private funds on health care, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This is more than any other country, but in 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked our health care system 37th among 190 countries.

Though we may not want to copy everything that Sweden or other countries do, we need to swallow our pride and learn from other countries whose citizens are now enjoying a better quality of life than ours. For more information, visit the website for Unnatural Causes.

—-

Jacqueline Laurette Jones is author of Unmasking a Diagnosis: How to get Help for a Confusing Chronic Illness Without Filing for Bankruptcy.

© 2008 – 2011, Unmasked Communications™. All rights reserved.