A study by Peter A. Muennig and Sherry A. Glied appearing in the November 2010 issue of Health Affairs explores how the changes in survival rates over the past 15 years reflect upon the overall state of health care in the United States. Comparing survival rates and risk profiles in the US with 12 other countries, the study suggests that America’s health care system is in need of major repair.

The article also considers how rates of smoking and obesity, among other variables, contribute to a declining state of overall domestic health.  Here are some examples:

• According to recent studies, in 2006 the smoking rate in the US was 15 percent for women and 19 percent for men.
• While fewer women in the US smoke than in Europe, those women who do smoke in the US individually consume on average more cigarettes than their European counterparts.
• An estimated one-third of adults in the US are obese, compared to an estimated 3.4 percent of adult Japanese men.

Visit the Health Affairs Website to read the entire article.