[MSNBC] US Ranks Last Among 6 Countries- Health Care Expensive, Inefficient

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Misty L. Trepke

http://health.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18674951/

 

Report: U.S. health care expensive, inefficient

America ranks last among six countries on key measures, group finds

 

WASHINGTON - Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the

most compared to five other rich countries, according to a report

released on Tuesday.

 

Germany, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada all provide

better care for less money, the Commonwealth Fund report found.

 

" The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other

nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and

outcomes, " the non-profit group, which studies health care issues,

said in a statement.

 

Canada rates second worst out of the six overall. Germany scored

highest, followed by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

 

" The United States is not getting value for the money that is spent

on health care, " Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis said in a

telephone interview.

 

The group has consistently found that the United States, the only

one of the six nations that does not provide universal health care,

scores more poorly than the others on many measures of health care.

 

Congress, President George W. Bush, many employers and insurers have

all agreed in recent months to overhaul the U.S. health care system —

an uncoordinated conglomeration of employer-funded care, private

health insurance and government programs.

 

The current system leaves about 45 million people with no insurance

at all, according to U.S. government estimates from 2005, and many

studies have shown most of these people do not receive preventive

services that not only keep them healthier, but reduce long-term

costs.

 

Davis said the fund's researchers looked at hard data for the report.

 

" It is pretty indisputable that we spend twice what other countries

spend on average, " she said.

 

Per-capita health spending in the United States in 2004 was $6,102,

twice that of Germany, which spent $3,005. Canada spent $3,165, New

Zealand $2,083 and Australia $2,876, while Britain spent $2,546 per

person.

 

Key measures

" We focus primarily on measures that are sensitive to medical care

making a difference — infant mortality and healthy lives at age 60, "

Davis said. " Those are pretty key measures, like how long you live

and whether you are going to die before age 75. "

 

Measures of other aspects of care such as cataract surgery or hip

replacements are harder to come by, she said.

 

They also looked at convenience and again found the United States

lacking — with a few exceptions.

 

" We include measures such as waiting more than four months for

elective, non-emergency surgery. The United States doesn't do as

well as Germany but it does a lot better than the other countries on

waiting time for surgery, " Davis said.

 

" We looked at the time it takes to get in to see your own doctor ...

(or) once you go to the emergency room do you sit there for more

than two hours, and truthfully, we don't do well on those measures, "

Davis said.

 

According to the report, 61 percent of U.S. patients said it was

somewhat or very difficult to get care on nights or weekends,

compared with 25 percent to 59 percent in other countries.

 

" The area where the U.S. health care system performs best is

preventive care, an area that has been monitored closely for over a

decade by managed care plans, " the report reads.

 

The United States had the fewest patients — 84 percent — reporting

that they have a regular doctor.

 

And U.S. doctors are the least wired, with the lowest percentage

using electronic medical records or receiving electronic updates on

recommended treatments.