Why American Healthcare Isn’t Rated Highest In The World

Many people who live in the United States are shocked when they first hear that American healthcare isn’t rated the highest in the world. Then their dismay only grows when they learn that it is actually pretty far down the list. So why isn’t American healthcare rated the highest in the world?

No Health Insurance

One undeniable fact of the moment that illustrates some of the problems with the American healthcare system is that so many people live without health insurance coverage. The current estimate of Americans without health insurance hovers around 47 million but these numbers seem to be steadily increasing. And of these 47 million individuals without health insurance an estimated 8.7 million are children. A healthcare system is ineffective if people cannot even afford coverage. The reasons why people cannot afford coverage range from the high cost of insurance coverage when you are unemployed to the still significantly high cost of insurance coverage when you are employed.

The Money Spent Versus The Care Given

Even looking at the statistics you can tell that American healthcare isn’t so great. The United States is among the countries that spend the most on life insurance per capita while it currently ranks 50th on the list of countries with the longest life expectancy. Compared to many developed countries, the US spends twice as much on healthcare and still comes out behind. Something is terribly wrong here.

With all the technology, medical professionals, and other resources that are widely available in the US and all the money that is being spent on healthcare how could the US rank so low on the list? The money that is being put toward healthcare expenses simply isn’t being properly utilized. Estimates place the number of hospital errors that result in patient deaths at a number only marginally below 100,000 a year. This means that these deaths are entirely preventable and yet these statistics have barely changed in the past decade. It is no wonder that American healthcare isn’t ranked the highest in the world.

Access To Care

The US ranks poorly on most dimensions used to rank healthcare systems and the ranking of the US healthcare system on access to care is poor too. Even those with health insurance have trouble paying healthcare costs so they either struggle to pay or attempt to do without. This makes the number of people who need healthcare services who do not receive them even higher. When you factor in that the care received is of a lower quality that that provided by other developed countries then the picture becomes bleak indeed. The US also came up short when being ranked by the availability of primary care and of after-hours care.

The American healthcare system isn’t rated the highest in the world because the entire system is flawed. Even with new legislation the old problems remain. Many people cannot afford healthcare and the care that those lucky enough to receive healthcare get is not of the highest quality. It is a system for which the terms health and care are not entirely appropriate.

T.R. Heinecker writes on how to enroll in a master of global health program.

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