Consider an Important Number

Daily Kos has the story:

For all those people obsessing about the U.S. finishing fourth in the 2016 Olympics sweepstakes, here's a number that ought to be a little more troubling.

We rank last among 19 comparable industrial countries in preventable deaths.

The data which has been around a few weeks was reported again this morning in the Washington Post.

Are Americans dying too soon? The answer is yes. When it comes to "preventable deaths" -- an array of illnesses and injuries that should not kill at an early age -- the United States trails other industrialized nations and has been falling further behind over the past decade.

Although the United States now spends $2.4 trillion a year on medical care -- vastly more per capita than comparable countries -- the nation ranks near the bottom on premature deaths caused by illnesses such as diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers and pneumonia, according to research by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund published in the journal Health Affairs.

How the US Stacks Up on Preventable Deaths

1. France -- 65

2. Japan -- 71

3. Australia -- 71

4. Spain -- 74

5. Italy -- 74

6. Canada -- 77

7. Norway -- 80

8. Netherlands -- 82

9. Sweden -- 82

10. Greece --84

11. Austria -- 84

12. Germany -- 90

13. Finland -- 93

14. New Zealand -- 96

15. Denmark -- 101

16. UK -- 103

17. Ireland --103

18. Portugal --104

19. US -- 110

The U.S. ranks at the bottom of 19 industrialized nations in the number of preventable deaths by conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, stroke, influenza, ulcers, pneumonia, infant mortality and appendicitis. The number at the right represents the number of preventable deaths per 100,000 population in each country in 2002-2003.

Source: Commonwealth Fund, Health Affairs, World Health Organization

Everyone should be in favor of Insurance Reform and the Public Option which is necessary to take profit out of the healthcare system.