The medical insurance premium in the United States is twice that of other developed countries, but the average life expectancy is not as good as others?

The U.S. medical insurance premium is twice as high as other developed countries, but the average life expectancy is not as good as others? [Comprehensive report by Qiaobao.com on March 13] Compared with other developed countries,...

[Comprehensive report by Qiaobao.com on March 13] Compared with other developed countries, the cost of medical insurance in the United States is twice that of other countries. A new study shows that the average life expectancy of Americans is the lowest among these countries.

Dr. Minnie Hassan of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is examining a patient at the clinic (Photo: Associated Press)

Americans spend $9,403 on health insurance every year. The Germans only spent a little over $5,000.

According to reports from the American Chinese website, a study by Harvard University interpreted the medical insurance expenses of the American people. Ashish Jha, a professor of global health at Harvard University, said that it is well known that the cost of health insurance in the United States is higher than that of other countries, but the reasons for this result have been misunderstood.

Ash believes that this result is not caused by too many doctor visits and hospitalization.

In this study, Ashe and his colleagues collected data from 2013 to 2016 in 10 high-income countries including Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Netherlands. They found that the reason for the higher medical insurance charges in the United States is due to the higher salaries of doctors and nurses in the United States. The salary of doctors in the United States is about $218,173, while in other countries it is only $86,607 to $154,126.

In addition, the United States spends more on pharmaceuticals. The United States’ pharmaceutical investment per capita is US$1,443, while other countries spend between US$466 and US$939. Even as health care spending increases in the United States, citizens are experiencing worse health outcomes. The life expectancy of the American people is 78.8 years, the lowest among these 11 countries. The average life expectancy in other countries ranges from 80 to 83.9 years.

In addition, Ash found that overall U.S. health care utilization rates are similar to those in other countries, which is not responsible for rising health insurance costs. Ashe believes the two main factors contributing to the increase in U.S. health insurance spending are rising prices for health care services and administrative costs.

What's even worse is that in the next three years, medical insurance costs in 19 states across the United States may rise by more than 50%, and 17 states may see medical insurance costs rise by more than 90%.