Colonists who arrived in the Americas at the beginning of the 17th century carried medical practices prevalent in Western Europe. Thus, during this period, caring for the ill represented Western Europe’s traditional understanding of wellness, sickness, and treatment practices. Due to the authority of the Protestant and Catholic beliefs regarding medical education in Europe’s academic institutions, sickness was frequently linked to God’s retribution for wrongdoing. For treatments, fasting, prayer, and volitional retribution were suggested. Several treatment methods were used, including leeches, cupping, blistering, and bloodletting. Unfortunately, these treatment methods often harmed the patient and were occasionally fatal. Unlike health care quality in the 18th century, 21st-century medical care is based on evidence-based practice and values, such as person-centered care leading to better health outcomes.
The United States invests most of its income in health care. The U.S. spent the most per capita on health care than most OECD countries in 2019. In that year, per capita, spending on health in America was $10,949, much greater than in Switzerland and Norway, which spent $7,138 and $6,745, respectively, ranking second and third (Key et al., 2019). Despite their considerable health care spending, Americans have poorer well-being than their international counterparts. In 2017, the U.S. had an average lifespan of 79 years, five years lower than Norway and Switzerland (Tikkanen & Abrams, 2020). Similarly, America’s rate of obesity is nearly four times higher than that of Norway and Switzerland (Tikkanen & Abrams, 2020). These statistics show that the U.S. healthcare system is more revenue-oriented than other countries.
Although the U.S. spends highly on health care compared to OECD countries, it is not delivering similar outcomes. The U.S. has low-quality health outcomes, including short life expectancy. The proliferation of debilitating illnesses and obesity exacerbates the problem. In addition, research indicates that the United States has the highest incidence of preventable death because of a lack of prompt, high-quality treatment (Kruk et al., 2018). This analysis uncovers significant policy consequences and possibilities to learn from countries with better health systems. The U.S. policymakers must prioritize cutting medical spending to achieve better health outcomes.
References
Key, B., Kohl, A., Elflein, J., Puri-Mirza, A., Sapun, P., & Cherowbrier, J. (2019). Per capita health expenditure in selected countries in 2019. Statista.
Kruk, M. E., Gage, A. D., Joseph, N. T., Danaei, G., García-Saisó, S., & Salomon, J. A. (2018). Mortality due to low-quality health systems in the universal health coverage era: A systematic analysis of amenable deaths in 137 countries. Lancet 392(10160), 2203–2212.
Tikkanen, R., & Abrams, M. (2020). U.S. health care from a global perspective, higher spending, worse outcomes? Commonwealthfund.org.