The United States is often considered one of the most developed countries in the world. Recently, however, is has been revealed that in comparison to the top 10 other developed countries around the world, the U.S. healthcare system falls dead last overall and in various categories, including efficiency of the system and the consideration of overall healthy lives within the nation.
There were a total of 11 nations included in the report done by the Commonwealth Fund: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Within the study, the U.S. ranks last. This is consistent with the 2010, 2007, 2006, and 2004 editions of the same study, reports the Daily Digest News.
The LA Times continues the discussion, confirming that it appears the low ranking results heavily from its lack of universal healthcare. Although the U.S. ranked somewhere in the middle in regards to effectiveness, safety, and coordination, it ranked dead last in some of the areas that appear to be more important to the public as a whole, including access and cost.
Conservatives were quick to explain the results after the report was published. In the Washington Examiner, Philip Klein states that the study is "rigged to produce a result that favors socialized healthcare systems."
Although the argument continues as to whether the Commonwealth study is useful for rating the overall health systems within various nations, it provides useful for understanding the value of healthcare systems to people of all nations.