The healthcare system in the US has been wavering out of
control for quite some time now. Here are some of the
unheralded facts about it:
The US is among a few wealthy, industrialized nations
without a universal health care system. Nearly 1 out of 2
American adults suffer from at least one chronic illness
or have a pre-existing medical condition. About 17% of the children and adolescents in
the US are obese while the majority (68%) of adults over
the age of 20 are either obese or overweight.
Life expectancy of a child born in the United States is an
estimated 79 years, placing the country at the
50th position globally. Even the poorest
British citizens can expect to live longer than the
richest Americans.
The US has one of the most
expensive health care systems
in the world, ranking 37 out of 191 countries (as per the
WHO’s report). The total healthcare cost was around
$2.6 trillion in 2012 and is expected to rise to $4.8
trillion by 2021.
Senior citizens make up only 13% population of the
country, but account for 30% of its health care
expenditure.
If the health care system were to detach itself from the
US and become a separate economy, in that case it would be
the fifth largest economy in the world.
The US spends more than 17% of its total GDP on
healthcare, the highest percentage as compared to any other country
in the world. This happens mainly because:
1) There is a lot of waste in healthcare expenses in the
US due to excessive bureaucracies. About one-third of the
nation’s healthcare expenses are diverted towards
administrative overhead, far higher than other
countries.
2) Also, Americans pay higher prices for patented drugs,
medical devices, procedures, hospital care and physician’s
fees.
Americans are responsible for a majority of all healthcare
innovations. Even the Nobel Prize (in medicine and
physiology) has been bagged by American residents more
often than residents from all other countries combined
(observed since the mid-1970's).
The top five hospitals in the United States are known for
conducting more trials than all the hospitals in any other
single developed nation.
As per the Social Progress Index 2014, the United States
ranks 70th among 132 nations in terms of
health and wellness.
An estimated 37% of Americans do not seek a physician’s help when sick due to high costs, and this is more likely among Americans with below average incomes, as compared to their counterparts in other countries. Thus, the country ranks very low on measures of equity.
