The US has the worst healthcare system of rules among 11 high - income countries assessed in a new study by theCommonwealth Fund , despite the fact that it spends nearly twice as much of its stark domesticated product on aesculapian costs as other wealthy nations . According to the account , a lack ofuniversal wellness insurance coverageis the main gadget driver of the nation ’s poor healthcare termination , resulting in alarmingly mellow rate of preventable deaths .
Of the 11 countries – the Netherlands , US , UK , Canada , Norway , Sweden , Germany , Switzerland , France , Australia , and New Zealand – the US " trails far behind other high - income countries on measures of health care affordability , administrative efficiency , equity , and outcomes , " the study concluded .
“ The US rate of preventable mortality ( 177 deaths per 100,000 population ) is more than double the best - perform country , Switzerland ( 83 deaths per 100,000 ) , ” write the researchers , before stating that the US “ has exceptionally poor carrying into action ” on other healthcare outcomes such as enatic mortality .
“ The US pace of 17.4[maternal ] deathsper 100,000 unrecorded births is doubly that of France , the country with the next - in high spirits rate ( 7.6 deaths per 100,000 resilient births ) . ”
babe mortalityrates currently resist at 5.7 Death per 100,000 springy births , which is well worse than in any other body politic , while averagelife expectancyfor those over the eld of 60 is just 23.1 years in the US – another last - place score .
Overall , Norway is ranked as having the serious healthcare system , accompany by the Netherlands and Australia . The US came in last , far behind its penny-pinching rival , Canada .
The report assess each country ’s healthcare system across five world , including accession to precaution , care process , administrative efficiency , equity , and healthcare outcomes . The US ranked last in four of these categories but get second for process of guardianship .
“ The US has grapple to keep pace with or exceed other countries on several cadence of caution process include in the report , such as influenza vaccination rate for older adults , low rates of postoperative sepsis after abdominal surgical process , and more utilisation of patient role - front health data engineering for provider communications and ethical drug pick , ” the authors noted .
However , the US stay the only body politic on the list not to offer universal health care , and with 70 million Americans having either no insurance or inadequate reporting , it ’s niggling surprise that the commonwealth ’s medical scheme proceed to perform so ill .
For illustration , the researchers explain that thecost of maternal care – from creation all the way through to the postpartum period – is a major driver of the country ’s overweening maternal deaths . Meanwhile , a want of free access tomental wellness carehas result in huge numbers of preventable death due to suicide , while low standards of nutritional guidance , education , and other vital services have led to high rate of obesity , heart disease , and other illnesses .
The characterization that the report paints is one of unequal access to what is a extremely sophisticated healthcare organization , whereby those with decent insurance packages benefit from an first-class quality of care , while others neglect out completely . A maze of administrative tasks andpaperworkalso make medical divine service more difficult to access for large numbers of people – something that all other countries involved in the paper have taken step to simplify .
