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Good To Know: How Our Nation Stacks Up In Health

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Sep 9, 2009 10:54 pm US/Central

Good To Know: How Our Nation Stacks Up In Health

Reporting
Don Shelby
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― The President spoke Wednesday night on the need for healthcare reform. There are a lot of people who wonder whether anything really needs to be done. After all, we are told we have the best medical care in the world. However, Don says that's not necessarily true.

What I think is true is that we have the best hospitals and doctors and nurses. And, if you have a great insurance policy and it pays for your doctors visits to catch problems early, it works like a charm.

But, as a country, we don't stack up so well against other countries.

The World Health Organization ranks the United States 24th in terms of the life expectancy of its citizens. Twenty-fourth, not first.

In the category called Health Performance, the WHO says we rank 72nd in the world. Seventy second, even though we are second in the percentage of our gross domestic product spent on health care.

Another standard measure of a civilized country is the infant mortality rate. The CIA says we are 46th in the world.

I don't know if we need health care reform, but I'm confused and somewhat embarrassed by the numbers.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.