The outrageous cost of American healthcare

Is there a correlation between what a country spends per capita on healthcare and its population’s life expectancy? Quite evidently the answer should be “Yes,” as the more a country spends per capita on healthcare, its citizens’ life-span should increase. 

Of course, there are always exceptions, and in this case the United States shows the just opposite. Talk about another example of “American Exceptionalism!” True, the United States stands out as a notable outlier with high healthcare spending per capita ($10,827) but it does not translate to a high life expectancy (79.3 years) compared to other developed countries. 

• South Korea (spending $4,300), Japan and Switzerland ($7,250) lead the world with an average life expectancy over the 84 years mark. 
• Then Israel ($3,000), Italy ($3,200), Spain, France ($5,000), Canada and Norway ($6,200) follow in the over 82 to 84 years category. 
• Chili ($2,450), United Kingdom ($4,450) and Germany ($6,000) fill the 80 to 82 years slot. 
• Finally, in the 78 to 82 slot we find China (pretty cheap at $1,000), Poland at $2,650 just four times cheaper than the USA ($10,827) that cost 50% more than the next most expensive Switzerland that manages to stretch its citizens’ average life expectancy by 5 good extra years. 

Something is wrong with this picture, and in a next blog, I’ll attempt to explain why. To be continued…