US Healthcare System Worst Among 11 Developed Nations: Study

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jul, 2017 ) : A latest study has found the US healthcare system the worst among 11 developed nations at a time when the country is deeply divided over the issue of healthcare coverage in the wake of efforts by the Trump administration to introduce a new law.

The study by the Commonwealth Fund found that while the US spent the most money on health care, it ranks poorly in terms of access, equity and healthcare outcomes, the online magazine the Hill reported.

The study analyzed issues relating to care, access, administrative efficiency, equity and healthcare outcome in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"Nearly half of low-income Americans, 44 percent, were found to have trouble getting access to healthcare coverage, while just 26 percent of high-income Americans were found to have issues getting coverage," the report said quoting the new findings.

The new study has surfaced at a time when President Trump is leading efforts to fulfill one of its top electoral promises about repealing a health coverage law, known as ObamaCare enacted during the previous regime of President Barack Obama.

While, Trump's democratic rivals are opposing it tooth and nail, the President and his Republican Party itself is bitterly divided over how the new law will look like.

The Republican Senators last week delayed voting to consider the healthcare bill due to sickness of one of its key Senators.

But, many within the party are opposing the bill and are skeptic if it will go through. The Congressional Budget Office, after the first attempt to introduce a new healthcare early this year, had warned that that it would leave 22 million more people without insurance over the next decade than under ObamaCare.

While, the Obamacare act is blamed for rising premium over the years, the new proposed bill appears equally unpopular. The CBO office has not yet released its latest analysis after several amendments were introduced by Republican Senators as conditions to support the bill.

According to a recent poll, just about 12 percent of Americans support the proposed Senate Republican health care plan, with 53 percent saying that Congress should either continue with the previous health care law � Obama care - or fix it while keeping its framework intact. Under the existing law, the government provides substantial subsidies to people from low-income group.