"WE'RE # 1" - (YEAH, YEAH...)

The Commonwealth Fund has released another comparative study of health care in the U.S. and compared to other advanced countries, we don't come out very well. You can get the full report here and below are some of the highlights.

Overall, performance did not improve from 2006 to 2008. Access to health care significantly declined, while health system efficiency remained low.

The U.S. now ranks last out of 19 countries on a measure of mortality amenable to medical care, falling from 15th as other countries raised the bar on performance.

Performance on measures of health system efficiency remains especially low, with the U.S. scoring 53 out of 100 on measures gauging inappropriate, wasteful, or fragmented care; avoidable hospitalizations; variation in quality and costs; administrative costs; and use of information technology. Lowering insurance administrative costs alone could save up to $100 billion a year at the lowest country rates.