U.S. Ranks Bottom Among 11 of World's Richest Countries in Terms of Health Care System Performances Compared to Cost
The United States has ranked bottom in a study comparing eleven of the world's richest countries, in terms of healthcare effectiveness. Despite being the most expensive, U.S. healthcare ranked well behind the United Kingdom and Australia.
The news comes as the U.S. wrestles with legislation aiming to overhaul its health system, as the Commonwealth Fund publishes the results of the 2017 installment of its "Mirror, Mirror" study comparing health care performance among high-income countries.
The private foundation has laid out the report comparing U.S. to eleven countries considered the wealthiest in the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
In the overall results, the U.K. and the Australia garnered the top overall ranks, while the U.S. got the bottom rank, placing eleventh. This is despite the country spending much more money on its health care system compared to the other eleven high-income countries, as noted by U.S. News.
The study's summary noted how the country spent much more than its peers on health care, with the costs steadily rising over the years as health system spending rose to more than 16 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 2014.
However, the increased spending did not translate to notable improvements in the health of the U.S. population. "Life expectancy, after improving for several decades, worsened in recent years for some populations, aggravated by the opioid crisis," the study noted.
"In addition, as the baby boom population ages, more people in the U.S.—and all over the world—are living with age-related disabilities and chronic disease, placing pressure on health care systems to respond," the report continued.
Meanwhile, progress on the proposals for a revamped health care system stalled in the Senate over the weekend, as Senator John McCain had an eye surgery to remove a clot.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to social media to publicly announce that discussions on the Better Care Act have been deferred awaiting Sen. McCain's recovery.
