The U.S. health care system is lagging further and further behind other industrialized countries on major measures of quality, efficiency and access to care, according to a new report from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, a leading health policy foundation.
That is having a profound effect on overall health in the U.S., the report found.
Americans die far more frequently than their counterparts in other countries as a result of preventable or treatable conditions, such as bacterial infections, screenable cancers, diabetes and complications from surgery.
In 2006-07, the U.S. recorded 96 preventable deaths per 100,000 people. By comparison, France, with the best-performing health care system, recorded just 55 deaths per 100,000.
And while the U.S. improved between 1997-98 and 2006-07, other countries made more progress. Ireland and Great Britain, which had higher mortality rates than the U.S., now have lower rates.
"We are slipping behind," said Commonwealth Fund Senior Vice President Cathy Schoen, one of the report's authors.
The poor outcomes reflect the widespread problems that millions of Americans have getting access to health insurance and health care, the authors found.
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