Looking for Trouble

Health care in the United States ranks low compared to other nations

Congress is debating a slew of health care measures that might or might not provide relief to some 75 million people in the United States that are believed to lack adequate health insurance or are uninsured altogether.

Might be a good time to see how we stand compared to the rest of the world.

We have the most expensive health care system in the world based on expenditures per capita (per person) and in total expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). Yet we rank No. 37 among the nations of the world in the quality of health care.

In addition, we are the only country among developed nations, except for South Africa, that doesn’t provide health care for all its citizens. And, the U.S. ranks last among developed countries in limiting preventable deaths, just below the superpower nations of Ireland and Portugal.

While we’re making comparisons, we should note that the United States, while ranking eighth in gross domestic product per capita, also has the highest inequality and poverty rate in the world, outside of two other dynamos of progress, Mexico and Turkey.

So any bill on health care that would be worth passing has to be affordable. It has to provide health care coverage for everyone. And to do that it will probably require a public option, a government insurance that would force other insurers to be competitive.

That would move the United States up in world rankings and it would be a healthy move for us all.