The National Institutes of Health commissioned a study to compare the U.S. to other affluent democracies with regard to health care. The study included countries in Western Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
We came in dead (bad word choice) last in life expectancy for men. For American women we were next to last. We were either last or near the bottom in heart disease, obesity and diabetes, homicides, and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Why are we so bad? An editorial in the New York Times suggests a number of likely explanations, including a large uninsured population, weaker safety net programs, sedentary lifestyles and obesity, higher rates of drug abuse, and greater use of firearms in acts of violence.
You know how people are always saying “We’re number one!” We are, but not in a good way.
If you want to read the Times’ editorial, click on <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/opinion/americas-health-disadvantage.html>.
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