Comment by Don
McCanne
This study
establishes a new landmark in health policy research. It provides a
basis of determining how all nations are doing in reducing premature
deaths by providing timely and effective health care, that is, in
improving their “amenable mortality” rates.
To no surprise for
those who follow health policy, the Healthcare Access and Quality
Index (HAQ Index) for the United States falls about in the middle of
nations in the highest quartile of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI).
Although our per capita spending on health care is about twice the
average of these nations, our access and quality are only average. We
do not have the best health care system in the world, in spite of
what reform opponents say.
As Christopher
Murray, a senior author of this study, states, “America's ranking
is an embarrassment.” Look at the countries that rank above us. If,
like them, we used our public resources more effectively we would no
longer have to be ashamed of our performance. Just through the tax
system alone we are already spending more per capita than almost all
of the other nations do in both public and private spending combined.
It’s not that we
need to make a decision to finance health care through our taxes; we
already largely do that. Instead we need to improve the allocation of
our tax funds plus our private spending. We can do that best by
enacting and implementing a well-designed single payer national
health program - an improved Medicare for all. With all that we are
spending, we should be at the top of the list.
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