US vs British Health Care: Twice the Cost, Half the Benefit

A new British study, published in May, 2006 in the Journal of the American Medical Association and based on self-reported illnesses and biological markers of disease, compared and assessed the relative heath status of older individuals in England and the United States. The study focused in particular on how (and if) health status varies by important indicators of socioeconomic status.

The outcome shows that people in the US are much less healthy than their English counterparts and that these differences exist across the spectrum of socioeconomic position. Although Americans spend twice as much per person on health care, they are more then twice as likely to suffer from certain diseases: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, lung disease, and cancer.

The researchers also found that within each country, health disparities are largest at the bottom of the education or income ladder.

For a thorough bibliography on the social determinants of health, see the list from Rachel's Democracy and Health News #853 at http://www.precaution.org/lib/06/sdoh_bib.htm. The full bulletin #853 is available at: www.rachel.org.