Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The US healthcare system sucks. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Despite spending more on healthcare than any other high-income nation, the United States ranks last in health outcomes, access, and equity. You’ve probably heard all that before, too.
And it’s only been reaffirmed by a new report called ‘Mirror, Mirror 2024’ issued by the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that studies healthcare systems worldwide.
The US healthcare system has more money pumped into it than it any other peer nation, yet the report says it fails to meet the needs of many Americans, resulting in shittier health and shorter lifespans. Despite all the money we pour into the healthcare system, Americans experience way higher rates of chronic disease and avoidable death compared to places like the Netherlands, Australia, and the United Kingdom, which are nations that rank as the top three performing countries in 2024.
The report does go out of its way to say that while those three nations and several others on the list—including France, Germany, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand—all have better healthcare systems than the United States, they each have their downsides and “have something to learn from one another.”
Some of the key factors driving down the health of Americans are chronic diseases and preventable deaths like drug overdoses and gun violence, according to the report. The Commonwealth Fund also puts heavy blame on the exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses that the 26 million Americans who remain uninsured have to pay, which limit access to preventative care.
Complex private insurance bureaucracy and its red tape also get a shout-out in the report. Countries with higher rankings usually have a streamlined system that simplifies access to healthcare services and provides universal coverage that significantly reduces financial barriers.
The report’s recommendations for fixing this gigantic mess are pretty simple, and stop me if you’ve heard them before: Make healthcare coverage universal and put an extra emphasis on prevention upfront to reduce negative outcomes down the line. You know, the kind of stuff that America feels like it will never do because too many people make money off of our collective suffering.
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