George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee all have something beside party affiliation in common. Each has recently claimed that America currently has the best health care system in the world.

However, when one actually compares America’s health care system to others around the world, it’s obvious the statement is incorrect.

Whether looking at quality of care, fairness of care, or cost of care it is evident the United States’ performance is subpar when compared to most other industrialized democracies.

The place where America fares best is in quality of care. But even the United States is behind other industrialized nations.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a data collecting economic organization consisting of 30 industrialized nations, including the United States, the United States has fewer doctors, nurses, and hospital beds per 1,000 citizens than the average OECD nation.

Americans also have a lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality rates and higher mortality because of improper health care provision.

Furthermore, a recent RAND Corporation study of 20 metropolitan areas found that all American adults are at risk for receiving poor care, regardless of socioeconomic situation, and that the average adult receives only about half of recommended health care.

Finally, according to a health care study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, the United States scored in the bottom third of the rankings in nine of 10 categories, although it did score well in its ability to provide effective preventive care.

Health care in America is unfairly distributed compared to other industrialized societies. In fact, America is the only industrialized democracy in the world that doesn’t have all basic health care coverage guaranteed by law.

This leaves 46 million non-elderly Americans without health care insurance, according to a Government Accountability Office study released this spring.

Of those 46 million Americans, the vast majority lack coverage because of the cost of private insurance, creating an unfair system where coverage is often determined by class.

America has the most expensive health care in the world. According to the OECD, the average American paid $6,401 annually on health care in 2005, while the average OECD citizen paid $2759.

In 2005, 15.3 percent of the United State’s GDP went towards health care, compared to an OECD average of only 9 percent of Gross Domestic Prodcut, despite the fact that the every other OECD country provides health care to all citizens, and that most rank higher than the United States in the most recent World Health Organization’s health indicators survey.

Say what you will about whether or not the United States should adopt a universal health care coverage system, but know that the current system must be improved.

There are dozens of other nations with health care systems right now that provide better quality of care and greater access to care at lower costs per capita.

Next time you hear someone claiming that America has the best health care system in the world, know it isn’t true. Know that we can do better.

Columnist: John Bateman - 10/24/07