A few days ago, on CNN, I heard a woman say “The United States has the best health care system in the world”.
It does?
Well, if it did, you would expect it would be easy to find statistics to back this up. The US would show up at the top or near the top for all major health care statistics. Strangely enough, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Here is what the CIA world factbook says about a few health care statistics.
Death rate: 8.38 deaths/1,000 population comparison with the rest of the world: world average: 8.2. So more people die in the US than the global average. For comparison, Canada is 7.74. About 10% better. Cuba is better. Bolivia is better. Tajikistan is better. India, Peru and Vietnam are better. South Korea is better.
Infant mortality rate: total: 6.26 deaths/1,000 live births. For comparison, Canada is 5.04.
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.11 years. For comparison, Canada is 81.23. 3 years better. To give some perspective. Canada is the 8th best country for longevity in the world. The US is 50th. South Korea is better.
So, by what measure is the American Health Care system the best in the world?