While many Americans believe we are in one of the top countries for health care, the truth is we are not. While the United States’ healthcare is the second-most costly in the entire world, we rank a distant 37th in quality! While it may not shock you to learn that America is not the top country where health care is concerned, the fact that we are not even in the top 10 should certainly give you reason for pause.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), France leads the world in quality health care. France is followed by Italy, Spain, and Oman, with Austria and Japan rounding-out the top 10. It must be noted that these “rankings” by the World Health Organization are actually some 10 years old now; this study was done in 2000, based on information compiled in 1997-1999. The World Health Organization no longer produces such studies due to the work involved, though it releases a new world health report every year.
Just to put things in perspective, the data, which the World Health Organization used to compile this ranking order, was most likely formatted on computers running Windows 98 – maybe even Windows 95! MP3 players were still relatively new and the entertainment industries were in an uproar over an upstart site called Napster. Bill Clinton was still in office as President. In many ways, 1998-2000 seems longer than 10 years ago.