US health care has been deemed 'mediocre' once again - this time in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
'The United States spends the most per capita on health care across all countries, lacks universal health coverage, and lags behind other high-income countries for life expectancy and many other health outcome measures,' wrote the authors of the new report, published July 10th in JAMA.
'High costs with mediocre population health outcomes at the national level are compounded by marked disparities across communities, socioeconomic groups, and race and ethnicity groups,' added the authors, led by Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, a professor of Global Health at the University of Washington and Institute Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
First Lady Michelle Obama has already pounced on the results:
It is one of three new papers by the institute being released simultaneously at the request of first lady Michelle Obama, who plans to present the findings to mayors of U.S. cities in an invitation-only event at the White House as part of her campaign to improve the nation's health.