Out of nineteen industrialized nations, the U.S. has the most deaths that could have been prevented by access to timely, effective medical care.
Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine performed the study, looking at deaths before the age of seventy-five caused by numerous diseases and complications. They found that France performed the best by this measure–though France, and other countries that ranked higher than the U.S., spends less money on health care than the U.S. does.
Not only was the U.S. the worst in these rankings, but we Americans are also ranked four places lower than we were in the last study (which covered 1997 and 1998). We are getting worse and spending more money.