United States Lags Behind Other Nations in Health Care
Despite Americans spending more for health care than other high-income countries, the United States has the highest rates of death for avoidable or treatable conditions, maternal and infant mortality, and suicide, researchers reported in an analysis study published in January 2023 by the Commonwealth Fund (https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2022).
The researchers said that health spending per person (https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2022) in the United States is nearly two times higher than in Germany and four times higher than in South Korea, including “spending for people in public programs, spending by those with private employer-sponsored coverage or other private insurance, and out-of-pocket health spending.”
- The United States has the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions and an obesity rate nearly twice the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average.
- Americans see physicians less often than people in most other countries and have among the lowest rates of practicing physicians and hospital beds per 1,000 population.
- U.S. breast and colorectal cancer screening and flu vaccination rates are among the highest, but the country lags in COVID-19 vaccinations.
The researchers used data (https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2022#methods) from OECD’s 2022 health statistics and Our World in Data to conduct the analysis.