USA ranks last among seven countries on health system performance

Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall compared to six other industrialized countries - Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK - on measures of health system performance in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, a private, USA-based foundation supporting independent research on health policy reform and a high performance health system.

While there is room for improvement in every country, the USA stands out for not getting good value for its health care dollars, ranking last despite spending $7,290 per capita on health care in 2007 compared to the $3,837 spent per capita in the Netherlands, which ranked first overall.

Affordable Care Act holds promise for US performance