Healthcare USA Not
When you watch the evening news and listen to the commentators talking about American healthcare, it is often said that people from all over the world come to the USA for care because we excel. How true is that? The US was once a leader for healthcare and education — now it ranks 27th in the world. I am not sure I believe this statistic. We ranked 37th in the world in healthcare and education only two years ago and we certainly have not improved.
Who is better than us? From the latest report, Finland was found to have the best health care system in the world. It is also the 14th best country overall. Coming in second place in terms of quality healthcare is Norway, which is ranked as the 9th best country based on the data from the 2019 report. Aug 28, 2019
According to Becker’s Healthcare we do know the following:
1. The U.S. ranked last place among the 11 countries for health outcomes, equity and quality, despite having the highest per capita health earnings.
2. The U.S. also had the highest rate of mortality amenable to healthcare, meaning more Americans die from poor care quality than any other country involved in the study.
3. Poor access to primary care in the U.S. has contributed to inadequate chronic disease prevention and management, delayed diagnoses and safety concerns, among other issues.
The truth of the matter is we live in a country where the third leading cause of death is healthcare and one in which life expectancy has gone down every year for the past four years.
It would not make sense to come to the USA for healthcare unless you were going to the Mayo Clinic or one of our other premier institutions. Most Americans do not have access to this better level of care. This is truly a country where it pays to be rich, the poor and disadvantaged be damned.
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Slow Joe Pro Quo and the rest of the left-wing liberals keep talking about universal healthcare and point to the Socialistic programs available in Scandinavia without having a clue what they are talking about. Norway, Denmark and the rest of the Scandinavian countries deny having Socialism as their framework for healthcare.
Can we ever have healthcare as good as the rest of the industrialized world? Most likely not! We have too many special interest groups that will ensure that it does not happen until the American Healthcare System collapses completely. We are not far away from that. Many third world countries are now passing the USA in healthcare. Why? Probably because they care more about their people than the almighty dollar.
Keep the people alive that can pay their exorbitant healthcare bills. People that cannot afford to stay alive need to find a way to get to a country that cares. Probably not the USA today, unless of course, you are an illegal alien. God bless America, but we do have to work to keep America. Hear that Democrats! And Nancy, it is pray to God, not PREY to God.
God bless all of you. Rick Redalen, MD, Maverick Doctor
Pick up a copy of my book “God’s Tiniest Angel and the Last Unicorn,” available on Amazon.
Dr. Rick is a retired American physician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who has done mission work around the country and the world. He is now on a mission to improve healthcare in America. Visit maverickdoctor.com or email him at rickr@maverickdoctor.com.