U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study

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U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study

Wed, Jun 23 2010

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (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.

" As an American it just bothers me that with all of our know-how, all of our

wealth, that we are not assuring that people who need healthcare can get it, "

Commonwealth Fund president told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Previous reports by the nonprofit fund, which conducts research into healthcare

performance and promotes changes in the U.S. system, have been heavily used by

policymakers and politicians pressing for healthcare reform.

said she hoped health reform legislation passed in March would lead to

improvements.

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.

" We rank last on safety and do poorly on several dimensions of quality, " Schoen

told reporters. " We do particularly poorly on going without care because of

cost. And we also do surprisingly poorly on access to primary care and

after-hours care. "

NETHERLANDS RANKED FIRST OVERALL

The report looks at five measures of healthcare -- quality, efficiency, access

to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives.

Britain, whose nationalized healthcare system was widely derided by opponents of

U.S. healthcare reform, ranks first in quality while the Netherlands ranked

first overall on all scores, the Commonwealth team found.

U.S. patients with chronic conditions were the most likely to say they gotten

the wrong drug or had to wait to learn of abnormal test results.

" The findings demonstrate the need to quickly implement provisions in the new

health reform law, " the report reads.

Critics of reports that show Europeans or Australians are healthier than

Americans point to the U.S. lifestyle as a bigger factor than healthcare.

Americans have higher rates of obesity than other developed countries, for

instance.

" On the other hand, the other countries have higher rates of smoking, "

countered. And Germany, for instance, has a much older population more prone to

chronic disease.

Every other system covers all its citizens, the report noted and said the U.S.

system, which leaves 46 million Americans or 15 percent of the population

without health insurance, is the most unfair.

" The lower the performance score for equity, the lower the performance on other

measures. This suggests that, when a country fails to meet the needs of the most

vulnerable, it also fails to meet the needs of the average citizen, " the report

reads.

(Editing by Maler and Osterman)

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE65M0SU20100623

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