USA - Last in Healthcare Among Wealthy Nations
The U.S. ranks as the worst performer among 10 developed nations in critical areas of health care, including preventing deaths, access (mainly because of high cost) and guaranteeing quality treatment for everyone, regardless of gender, income or geographic location, according to [a] report published by The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group.
Based on the new findings, people in the U.S. die the youngest and experience the most avoidable deaths, even though the country spends nearly twice as much—about 18% of gross domestic product—on health care than any other nation ranked.
“No other country in the world expects patients and families to pay as much out of pocket for essential health care as they do in the U.S.,” Dr. Joseph Betancourt, the president of The Commonwealth Fund, said on a call discussing the new findings.
Ironically, the steep price people pay doesn’t guarantee superior care.
“We are undersupplied with the things that people need most,” including doctors and hospital beds, Dr. David Blumenthal, the former president of The Commonwealth Fund, said on the call. “That’s one of the reasons why you have to wait so long in the United States for specialty care and one of the reasons why no one can find a primary care physician.”
The researchers looked at how the U.S. compared with nine other countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Each country was graded on five categories: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity and health outcomes.
No country was at the top or bottom in every category. The countries that ranked in the top three overall were Australia, the Netherlands and the U.K. Australia, and the Netherlands also had the lowest health care spending, according to the report.
-www.nbcnews.com, 19 September 2024
Commentary
Anyone who has spent time and money—much of it out of pocket—trying to navigate the complexities of healthcare in the US can see the truth in this article.
Often, American politicians like to tout phrases such as, “We live in the greatest country on earth.” But realistically, that is not the case, as there are several areas in which the US performs poorly. It is a matter of national pride, which originates from the father of lies.
May we humbly repent of any tendency to “think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). -By K. Farmer
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
