5 Things You Need to Know About U.S. Healthcare

Disclaimer:

I love the United States and I am fortunate to have grown up in the land of the free, but this country is far from perfect. (just turn on the news)

That being said, I wanted to take the time to share a few facts about our not-so-perfect healthcare system.

1. Ranked #31 in Life Expectancy

The average life expectancy in the United States, males and females included, is 79.3 years.

The U.S. is on the lower end compared to other developed countries. The top 10 countries average 82 years or better. Japan takes the #1 spot with 83.7 years.

This ranking is out of 183 countries reported in 2016 World Health Statistics published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

2. High Infant Mortality Rate

The stat: 6.5/1,000 live births (2015)

The U.S. has a low infant mortality rate compared to global statistics, but we lag well behind many other industrialized, high-income countries.

In fact, one study showed the U.S. had the top mortality rate of children under 5 years out of 13 highly developed countries.

3. Biggest Spenders

3.2 trillion in 2015.

The United States consistently tops the charts on healthcare spending. Like it's not even a contest.. Yet we still fall behind in healthcare quality and outcomes.

The UK, on the other hand, regularly has one of the top ranked healthcare systems in the world and they do it on half the budget.

Simply put. More is not better.

4. Great Specialized Disease Treatment

The United States is home to a multitude of well respected hospitals and specialty clinics. We are very good at treating diseases that have already developed and people come from all over the world to receive treatment.

The downside to that is most of our resources are geared toward disease treatment and lacking in disease prevention (i.e. primary care, community health services).

Not only is prevention more cost effective than treatment, it improves quality of life.

5. Preventative Medicine is the Future

OK. This one really isn't a fact...

But I believe investing in disease prevention would have a much larger impact on the overall health of the population.

And with the increasing cost of healthcare, it is only a matter of time before people start looking for other solutions. Rural and community health will explode and become vital at that point.

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My goal is to promote and advocate for community wellness and it starts here.

Who knows.. maybe Birmingham, AL could be the catalyst to a new era of preventative medicine.

Why not??