U.S. Health Care is Not the Best
September 28,
2009
The same old
conservative mantra of America has the best health care in the world is not
true when studied in its entirety. Certainly we have great hospitals and
doctors but when you look at our country from the worldwide perspective, we
don’t do as well. For example:
The US ranks 37 worldwide in overall health
care, behind Costa Rica and ahead of Slovenia.
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
US longevity ranks 42nd over all
in life expectancy and it has dropped recently.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/12/us-falls-in-life-expectancy-rankings/
US infant mortality rate in 2008 was 29th
in the world tying with Poland and Slovakia. That’s about 28,000 babies who
die each year. The best rate was 2/1000 dead babies per thousand in
Singapore and 6.9 for the US.
Let’s say we had a rate close to Singapore’s,
more than 18,000 babies would be saved. Where is the outrage to that?
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20081015/infant-mortality-us-ranks-29th
In 2008 we paid the most for health care as a
nation, about 17.6 percent of the Gross national product and the average
worldwide was about 9 percent. The percentage goes up each year and is a
financial burden to us all and unsustainable. Health care cost inflation is
just over 6 percent.
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
People come to
America for the best because we have it…. if you can afford it. Because we
have the best doesn’t mean the “average” American can afford it. Money equal
access. Canadians come to America for immediate care but stay where they are
when their conditions are expensive.
A significant
portion of American bankruptcies, 62 percent in 2007 were due to health care
and 80 percent had health insurance. This adds to the national burden burden
and disrupts families in countless ways. We need universal health care.
