CBS News
U.S. spends the most but ranks last in health compared with other high-income nations, new report says
Americans, despite spending the most on healthcare, are the sickest and die the youngest compared with nine other high-income nations, according to a new report.
The report, released Thursday by independent research group The Commonwealth Fund, found the United States has the worst-performing health care system overall despite spending the most of any nation in the study.
Using data from World Health Organization and more since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the study looked at five key health care measures, including health equity, access to care, care process, administrative efficiency and health outcomes.
Here’s how the countries ranked based on overall score:
1. Australia
2. Netherlands
3. United Kingdom
4. New Zealand
5. France
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Germany
10. United States
“Differences in overall performance between most countries are relatively small, but the only clear outlier is the U.S., where health system performance is dramatically lower,” the report states.
In addition to ranking last overall, the U.S. also ranked lowest for specific health measures including access to care to health outcomes. Australia and the Netherlands, the two countries with the highest overall rankings, also have the lowest health care spending while the U.S. spends the most among the group.
“When it comes to life expectancy and avoidable deaths, the U.S. comes in last,” the report’s news release noted.
But, all countries have strengths and weaknesses despite their overall rankings.
“No country is at the top or bottom on all areas of performance. Even the top-ranked country — Australia — does less well, for example, on measures of access to care and care process. And even the U.S., with the lowest-ranked health system, ranks second in the care process domain,” the report states.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is his pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
In a Truth Social post, Trump referred to Ratcliffe as “a warrior for Truth and Honesty” and said, “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions.”
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Trump has kept up a steady clip of announcements about top aides and nominees for his second administration without as much drama as his first transition following his 2016 victory. He also said Tuesday he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East.
Ratcliffe, who was a GOP congressman from Texas, served as director of national intelligence in the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. He’s viewed as a more traditional pick for the role, which requires Senate confirmation, than some rumored loyalists pushed by some of Trump’s supporters. His last Senate confirmation, for the DNI role, was along party lines.
As intelligence director, he was criticized by Democrats for declassifying in the final days of the 2020 presidential election Russian intelligence alleging damaging information about Democrats during the 2016 race even though he acknowledged it might not be true.
Ratcliffe’s visibility rose as he emerged in 2019 as an ardent defender of Trump during the House’s first impeachment proceedings against him. He was a member of Trump’s impeachment advisory team and questioned witnesses during the impeachment hearings.
After the Democratic-led House voted to impeach Trump, Ratcliffe called it “the thinnest, fastest and weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.” He also forcefully questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.