America Spends More For Mediocre Health Care Than All Other Nations

America Spends More For Mediocre Health Care Than All Other Nations: " America Spends More For Mediocre Health Care Than All Other Nations

If you're wondering why medical mistakes like the one I described yesterday are being reported with greater frequency, you'll want to review the Commonwealth Fund Commission's first-ever National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance.

Compared to other nations, America scored a D (66), based on pitifully low scores taken from 37 different benchmarks. Even worse, the United States spends 16 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, higher than the other 22 nations evaluated in the report.

Among the benchmarks cited in the report with the correspondingly low U.S. scores:


Infant mortality = 39.
Needless emergency room visits that could've been treated in an office visit = 23.
Adults receiving recommended screenings and preventative care = 61.



If America closed all the statistical gaps cited in the Commonwealth Fund report, the nation could prevent as many as 150,000 deaths annually and save up t"