Here we go again, as President Reagan used to say.
Once again an assertion of the old trope that the US has the world’s best health care system.
“We have the best health care system in the world,” said Dr. Chad Mathis, distinguished fellow at Alabama Policy Institute in a release that went out on May 27. “That is a statement you won’t often hear, but it’s true.”
Well, truth is sometimes in the eye of the opinionater. I recognize that much. But a quick swing around the numbers shows that the US is not at the top when it comes to health care.
According to the Commonwealth Fund: The U.S. spends more on health care as a share of the economy — nearly twice as much as the average OECD country — yet has the lowest life expectancy and highest suicide rates among the 11 nations.
.{This analysis is part of a series of Commonwealth Fund comparisons that uses health data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assess U.S. health care system spending, outcomes, risk factors and prevention, utilization, and quality, relative to 10 other high-income countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.}
Now, Mathis should know a thing or two about health care. The Birmingham resident is an orthopedic surgeon. In the Trump administration, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor at Health and Human Services.
Mathis’ primary argument centers on how much better the US rolled out vaccination, than the problem-plagued European Union.
According to Mathis, “The United States produced and distributed the vaccine precisely because of our highly fragmented, highly customizable healthcare system. While not perfect, it can hold its own on the world stage.”
Fragmented it may be, but I don’t think that is a hallmark of its strength. As far as the rollout goes, the U.S.
Another recent report by U.S. News and World Report found 10 countries with the best health care systems. The U.S. ranks No. 22, falling seven spots on the list compared to 2020.
- Sweden
- Germany
- Denmark
- Canada
- Switzerland
- Netherlands
- Norway
- United Kingdom
- Finland
- Japan
Now I know the U.S. has a great medical care system. Some of my best friends and family are doctors and nurses and PT’s and such. We are great but we shouldn’t have 30 million uninsured; we shouldn’t have the most expensive health-care system as a significant size of our economy; and we shouldn’t have an obesity rate that is among tops in the world. Saying we are the best in the world thwarts our need to improve upon it.