Ranking US Health Care

One of the “statistics” cited by critics of US health care is the number 37, assigned by the World Health Organization.

As Carl Biailk (WSJ) observed,

Among all the numbers bandied about in the health-care debate, this ranking stands out as particularly misleading. It is based on a report released nearly a decade ago by the World Health Organization and relies on statistics that are even older and incomplete.

No single ranking can capture the complexity of the US health care system, and this ranking appears to be particularly poor in evaluating actual performance.

See Ill-Conceived Ranking Makes for Unhealthy Debate