US Spends Most Money on Health Care But Lags in Life Expectancy

RedTracker| Life expectancy in the U.S. was 78.1 years in 2007, putting the US just ahead of the Czech Republic, Poland and Mexico, countries that spend much less on health care than America.

OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average life expectancy of 30 developed countries is 79.1.

Total U.S. spending on health care was $7,290 a person in 2007, nearly two-and-a-half times the OECD average of $2,984. The figures include spending by both individuals and governments.

“It suggests that the U.S. is not getting great value for its health spending, in terms of life expectancy,” Gaetan Lafortune, one of the report’s co-authors said. via MSNBC

Countries like Norway and Switzerland have life expectancies two to four years longer than America’s.