greatest health care system in the world!!!

DO AMERICANS RECEIVE BETTER HEALTH CARE?

So in the aggregate, Americans lose more years of life due to bad medical care than residents of any other advanced country. It's not a shocking conclusion: 15 percent of our population has no regular access to the health system, and another 15% to 20% has insufficient insurance coverage.

Americans only pay $4,000 more per person, per year, than the British. Suck on that, England!

So despite paying twice as much per person as any other country on earth, it's not clear that we get the best care (and there's no evidence, anywhere, on any measure, that our care is twice as good). Canada seems better at treating heart attacks, and most universal systems are better at treating chronic diseases like diabetes and kidney failure. On the bright side, we're probably not 37th. And this is coming from a scholar being published by Cato.

Whenever I read posts like Pollack's, I'm reminded of something David Frum wrote in his book Comeback. "Who agreed that conservatives should defend the dysfunctional American health care system from all criticism?" He asked. "Who volunteered to take the bullet for every crummy HMO and overpriced surgeon in the country? Who decided that it was okay with us for tens of millions of Americans to lack health care coverage?" It's a good question.