U.S. Lags beghind in Medicine

U.S. trailing other nations in medicine

The U.S. falls short of other nations in outcomes and quality of medical care, even though it spends 16% of its gross domestic product on health care, totaling much more than what other countries spend. A new health care scorecard from The Commonwealth Fund gives the U.S. a grade of just 66 out of 100, based on key indicators, such as measures of preventive and primary care, universal health coverage, efficient delivery of care and equity in the health system. The U.S. is not a leader in the adoption of health information technology, the Commonwealth Fund notes. The scorecard is based upon 37 scored indicators in the areas of health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency and equity.

"The overall picture that emerges from the scorecard is one of missed opportunities and room for improvement," the authors write. "While the top tier of the system achieves excellence in some areas, the uneven performance across the country indicates a need for major improvement."

The scorecard shows especially low scores for U.S. health care at the beginning and end of life. It ranks the U.S. 15th out of 19 countries in deaths potentially preventable with excellent medical care. Furthermore, it finds less than half of adults in the U.S. received preventive and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex. At least 34% of adults under age 65 have problems paying their medical bills or have medical debt they are paying off over time.