US gets mediocre results despite high spending on health care

The United States spends twice as much on health care as a percentage of gross domestic product as other industrialised countries, a new report says. But it is behind the other countries in providing its citizens with good health outcomes, quality of care, access to care, efficiency, and equity, the report concludes.

The report, from the Commonwealth Fund, a private, non-profit foundation that works to increase healthcare coverage and quality, says: “Although national health spending is significantly higher than the average rate of other industrialized countries, the US is the only industrialized country that fails to guarantee universal health insurance, and coverage is deteriorating, leaving millions without affordable access to preventive and essential care.

“Quality of care is highly variable and delivered by a system that is too often poorly coordinated, driving up costs and putting patients at risk.”

The …