Do you know why America needs healthcare for all? Think healthy lives, among others.

Hi, I'm James Lenhart family doctor, author and publisher of Conversations for Paco: Why America Needs Health Care for All.

Today's conversation leverages the research of the Commonwealth Fund to summarize how lack of access to care, inefficiency of care and inequity in care combine to rank U.S. health outcomes last among developed countries. Since 1918 the Commonwealth Fund has promoted improved quality of healthcare by supporting independent research on healthcare issues to improve healthcare practice and policy. Here's what the Commonwealth Fund concludes when it comes to healthy lives in the United States.

“The U.S. ranked last over all with your scores on all three indicators of healthy lives – mortality amenable to medical care, infant mortality, and healthy life expectancy at age 60. The U.S. and the U.K. had much higher death rates in 2007 from conditions amenable to medical care than some of the other countries, for example, rates 25% to 50% higher than Australia and Sweden. Over all, France, Sweden, and Switzerland rank highest on healthy lives.”

Although not perfect the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare worked to address issues related to access to care, inefficiency in care and inequity in care in the United States.

Healthcare is once again a political hot potato in our country and I urge you to call, write or email your congressional representatives to promote health care for all in the United States. – because health is a human necessity, and healthcare is a human right.

And if you're of a mind pick up a copy of my novel Conversations for Paco: Why America Needs Health Care for All, which dramatizes the consequences of inequity and inefficiency in healthcare.

Conversations for Paco: Why America Needs Health Care for All.

is available from Amazon in electronic, paperback and hardbound formats. Go to: https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Paco-America-Needs-Healthcare/dp/0615471099/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490564760&sr=8-1&keywords=conversations+for+Paco

References:

Mirror, Mirror on he Wall, 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally. Online [Available at:] http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror  Accessed: May 7, 2017.

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