Healthcare, One More Time

The world is looking at America with bemusement. We’re still tangled up in the vexing problem of how to provide access to healthcare to all our citizens. Meanwhile Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy – in fact, every first world country not named America – provides universal healthcare for its citizens. I have a friend in Costa Rica that I talk to regularly, which is how I know that Costa Rica has universal healthcare. And Costa Rica is a third world country. My friend doesn’t pay directly for health care. Universal healthcare in that country is provided through payroll taxes.

Now you could argue that America provides excellent healthcare to those who can afford access to it, while Costa Rica provides inferior healthcare to everyone. The truth is that the WHO (World Health Organization) ranks America’s healthcare 37th in the world, whereas Costa Rica’s healthcare ranks 36th, putting Costa Rica a notch above the USA. And what country ranks 38th? That would be Slovenia.

Among high income nations, America’s healthcare system – the most expensive in the world – is the worst. Though it ranks 37th, healthcare in America costs two and a half times that of the country with the second most expensive healthcare. One of every six dollars spent in America is spent for healthcare. Yet compared to citizens of other high-income countries, Americans have poorer health including shorter life expectancy and more chronic conditions.

The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an international economic organization with 35 member nations including the USA. Most member nations are high-income.

The US has 2.4 physicians per 1000 people. Other OECD countries have an average of 3.1.

The US has 2.6 hospital beds per 1000 people. Other OECD countries have an average of 3.4.

The infant mortality rate in America is higher than in every other country in the OECD. A baby born in America is almost three times as likely to die during her first year of life as one born in Finland or Japan and twice as likely to die in her first year as a Spanish or Korean one. If Alabama and Mississippi were countries, their infant mortality rate would put them between Sri Lanka and Bahrain.

The solution to our healthcare problems is known. It’s not a mystery. Universal access to healthcare means people stay healthier because problems are nipped in the bud, leading to longer life and increased productivity. The answer to this never-ending healthcare issue is single-payer healthcare. Having a healthcare system in America as good as the developed European nations and Japan will be a moonshot that I doubt America will ever achieve. But with proper planning and perseverance, there is a chance that one day America’s healthcare system will be as good as Costa Rica’s.