France Best, USA Worst in Preventable Deaths

The Chimperator and many others will claim that the USA health care is the best in the world. For certain individuals it no doubt is the best. However, in a new study of preventable deaths, the USA ranked last out of 19 leading industrialized nations, as reported by Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080108/hl_nm/deaths_rankings_dc). With over 45 million Americans without health insurance, this low ranking should not be a surprise since hospital emergency rooms and similar facilities that must treat life threatening emergency cases regardless of insurance do not render preventive care. Imagine how the Chimperator (who just recently vetoed an increase in health insurance coverage for childen) would express outrage and engage in all kinds of political posturing if over 100,000 Americans lost their lives to a terror attack. Also, where are the Christianists who want no abortions, yet support Bush and care little for living Americans (especially if they are minorities)? Here are some story highlights:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday.

If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs. Researchers Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tracked deaths that they deemed could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care, and ranked nations on how they did.

Nolte said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance -- about 47 million people in a country of about 300 million, according to U.S. government estimates -- probably was a key factor in the poor showing of the United States compared to other industrialized nations in the study. "I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?" Nolte said in a telephone interview.

France did best -- with 64.8 deaths deemed preventable by timely and effective health care per 100,000 people, in the study period of 2002 and 2003. Japan had 71.2 and Australia had 71.3 such deaths per 100,000 people. The United States had 109.7 such deaths per 100,000 people, the researchers said. After the top three, Spain was fourth best, followed in order by Italy, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain, Ireland and Portugal, with the United States last.