England put on a great opening show for the London 2012 Olympics.
One section included a tribute to their National Health System (NHS) that was launched in 1948 with the following three goals:
That it meets the needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery and that it be based on clinical need, not on the ability to pay
An excellent article on the NHS appeared three years ago in Time magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1916570-1,00.html
While we continue to debate all the pros and cons of our health care delivery system in the United States other, recently updated, statistics are also interesting to review.
While the United States remains strongly seated in the #1 position for most health care dollars spent/person, the U.S. is currently in 50th place in terms of average life expectancy:
http://www.nationalledger.com/lifestyle-home-family/life-expectancy-by-country-201-185296.shtml#.UBPhm2FfESY
While debate is still needed, action is also. A few years ago we were 38th.
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