The U.S. Pays More, and Gets More, for Health Care

Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board points out that the U.S. has the highest spending on health care per person and has lower life expectancies than some other countries, but that the former might have little to do with the latter.

Life expectancy in the U.S. is affected by other factors, like the homocide rate and automobile accidents, than simply the health care system.

The authors of The Business of Health found that when homocides and accidents are accounted for, health outcomes in the U.S. rank first in the world.

This would indicate that while Americans are paying more in health care, they’re also getting more than anywhere else in the world when it comes to treating the sick.

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