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- In the US, healthcare spending will be 17.8% of GDP in 2021.
- This is almost double that of other high-income countries.
- Obesity rates are also higher in the U.S.
According to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, the US will spend 17.8% of its GDP on health care in 2021, almost double the 9.6% average for high-income countries. The U.S. spends three to four times more on health care per capita than countries like South Korea, New Zealand and Japan.
The researchers compared data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) 2022 Health Statistics Database and the 2022 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey.
Their analysis shows that the overall health status of the United States is worse than that of other high-income countries. Life expectancy at birth in the United States is three years lower than the OECD average. The obesity rate in the U.S. is almost double the OECD average at about 43%, compared with the OECD average of 25%. This is followed by New Zealand (34%), Australia (30%) and the UK (28%).
In addition, the avoidable death rate in the US in 2020 was 336 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with the OECD average of 225.
It may also be partly due to differences in levels of violence in the United States. There is a marked difference in the number of deaths from attacks in the US compared to other OECD countries, with the US at about 7.4 deaths per 100,000 people, while many other countries are well below the 0.2 to 1.3 deaths per 100,000 population .
“Americans are living shorter and less healthy lives because our health systems are not working as well as they should,” said lead author Munira Gunja, Director of International Health Policy and Practice Innovation at the Commonwealth Fund senior researcher on the project, in a press release. “To catch up with other high-income countries, the government and Congress must expand access to health care, act aggressively to contain costs, and invest in health equity and social services that we know lead to healthier populations.”
Americans may be more likely to suffer from multiple health complications than people in other high-income countries.
According to the Commonwealth Foundation’s 2022 International Health Policy Survey, about 30 percent of U.S. adults surveyed suffer from two or more chronic diseases, such as asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. blood pressure. The survey also included ten other countries, and the results ranged from 17 percent in France, to 20 percent in Germany, to about 26 percent in Australia.
The report authors stress that the United States is the only high-income country that cannot guarantee universal health care. Americans also see a lower proportion of doctors than countries like Germany and Japan.
“This analysis continues to demonstrate the importance of international comparisons,” Reginald D. Williams II, head of international programs at the Commonwealth Fund, said in a news release. “It provides an opportunity for the United States to learn from other countries and build a better health care system that provides affordable, high-quality health care for everyone.”
