We have seen that America spends more on health care than other developed democracies around the world for outcomes that, on the whole, are no better than those achieved by the average OECD country. Our health care “system” perpetuates ever-increasing spending without delivering results to justify the expense. Moreover, because of our country’s isolation, both geographically and culturally, few Americans actually know about or appreciate this disparity. In the words of that eminent philosopher, Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
But not all the news is gloom and doom. We lead the world in medical technological innovation, and we have chosen to target this expensive technology at some very thorny problems. Further, statistics don’t always tell the whole or true story. Sometimes, one needs to lift up the rug and check what’s lying underneath.
Take infant mortality, for example.
The best place to find infant mortality data is (drum roll): the US Central Intelligence Agency, which tracks the rate of infant deaths in 241 countries around the world in its World Facts Book.
Currently, the CIA shows Angola, with 184 deaths per 1,000 births, as having the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) in the world, 241st out of 241. That is, more than 18% of Angola’s infants die shortly after birth. In fact, with the exception of Afghanistan, the 24 countries with the world’s highest infant mortality rates are all in Africa. It has long been known that IMR directly correlates with a nation’s per capita GDP.
At the other end of the scale, Singapore, a high-GDP country, ranks first, with the world’s lowest infant mortality rate – 2.3 deaths per 1,000 births, followed by Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong, Iceland and France.
And where in this mix is the United States you may ask. Well, with a rate of 6.37, we rank number 41 in the world.
Or do we? It all depends on how one treats the numbers, because not everyone defines infant mortality the same way. The most common definition is: the number of deaths of infants, one year or younger, per 1,000 live births. The question is – what is a live birth? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a live birth as “any born human being who demonstrates independent signs of life, including breathing, voluntary muscle movement, or heartbeat.” However, the United States counts all births as live if they show any sign of life, regardless of prematurity or size. This includes what many other countries report as stillbirths. And the US is far more aggressive and advanced in attacking and treating significant neonatal complications. Visit any major teaching hospital’s neonatal ICU and you’ll see what I mean. The inference is that the US’s actual comparative infant mortality rate may actually be lower, perhaps much lower, than is statistically reported.
But those neonatal ICUs cost a lot of money. It’s an investment the US has chosen to make, unlike most other countries, and it is symptomatic of why we spend so much more than the rest of the world on health care.
Of course, if you spend a few minutes talking with a mother and father who have just brought a young child home, healthy and smiling, after six months, of so, in one of those expensive, neonatal ICUs, you might be excused for thinking, as they surely do, that the cost is worth every penny.
Prior entries in this series:
Part Three: What Do We Get for the Money?
Part Two – What does it cost?
Part One: The best Health Care Plan in America