Healthcare Technology Featured Article

May 07, 2012

U.S. Spends the Most on Healthcare, But Not on the Best


It's no secret that we spend the most on healthcare in the world, developed and developing. So that must mean we get the best healthcare, right?

Wrong.

The U.S. spent $7,690 on medical care per American in 2009, according a study by the Commonwealth Fund research group. That number represents 17 percent of the U.S. GDP, outstripping the 13 nations measured by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In second place is Norway, which spent $5,352 per person that same year. That represents 9.6 percent of that nation's GDP. The lowest costs were enjoyed in Japan, which spends one third of what the U.S. spends per person on healthcare.

So how does quality stack up? Decently, but not what you'd expect for all that money.

According to the L.A. Times, the study revealed the U.S. has the world’s best breast cancer survival rate and shares the top spot for cancer survival. However, American hospitals' mortality rates for heart attacks and strokes are only middling. The U.S. has more obese patients than any other nation, we are second for smoking (only after Sweden), and we have some of the highest death rates in the study for deaths due to asthma and diabetes-related amputations.

So why are costs so high? A few reasons. The study's authors say it's because many medical services used in this country are unnecessary or inefficient. Prices for brand-name drugs, office visits and medical procedures are also the highest here, and hospitals are more likely to use expensive technologies such as MRI machines.




Edited by Braden Becker
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