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News, notes, and observations from the James River Valley in northern South Dakota with special attention to reviewing the performance of the media--old and new. E-Mail to MinneKota@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Why the U.S. has the best healthcare system in the world.


For the same reason the Easter Bunny keeps us in eggs, the Tooth Fairy keeps us in pocket change, and Santa Claus chose Willard Romney to run for president. 

If you don't want to entrust your healthcare to myth and fantasy, you might wish to consult this news story from Reuters:  

U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study

The main points of the story are:

(Reuters) - Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries -- Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found.
  ...

The current report uses data from nationally representative patient and physician surveys in seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It is available here

In 2007, health spending was $7,290 per person in the United States, more than double that of any other country in the survey.

Australians spent $3,357, Canadians $3,895, Germans $3,588, the Netherlands $3,837 and Britons spent $2,992 per capita on health in 2007. New Zealand spent the least at $2,454.

This is a big rise from the Fund's last similar survey, in 2007, which found Americans spent $6,697 per capita on healthcare in 2005, or 16 percent of gross domestic product

... 
The report looks at five measures of healthcare -- quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives.
[For the full Reuters story, click the headline above]

To read the full Commonwealth Fund report, click here.  

 
 

1 comment:

osteopathy treatment said...

The developed world is full of alternative models, fully functioning structures that can be viewed as little experiments, the outcomes of which should inform our policies. If our health care system outperforms its competitors, than we should amplify what sets us apart and pushes us ahead.

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