The American Problem
How come the wealthiest country in the world has some of the worst health outcomes for women?
With a population of over 330 million people, the U.S. boasts the most complex and most expensive healthcare system in the world. The annual spend is around $13,000 per capita or roughly $4 trillion total, accounting for almost 20% of the country’s GDP. Despite this exorbitant amount of spending, U.S. health outcomes are not any better than those of other developed countries around the globe.
Even worse are the outcomes for American women. Women in the U.S. face a massive barrier to access healthcare services and products, lagging well behind peers around the globe. American women report the least positive experiences within the healthcare system and have the greatest burden of chronic illness, highest rates of skipping needed health care because of cost difficulty affording their health care, and are least satisfied with their care.
Stats on American Women (amongst 11 high-income countries studied):
Highest rate of maternal mortality
Highest rates of C-sections
Quarter of women report spending $2k or more out of pocket for medical expenses in the last year compared to 5% or fewer in other countries
More than 1/3rd of women report skipping medical care because of costs
Less likely to rate their quality of care as excellent or very good
Lowest rates of having a regular doctor in place
Nearly half of women report medical bill problems
Highest rates of chronic disease burden
The U.S. spends more money on healthcare than other high-income countries, but has failed to improve women’s health outcomes. They underlying reason for this being significant disparities in research, education, and innovation in the space. Most developments in healthcare are geared towards serving the male population and/or are based off of studies done on males.
Policy has begun to change this. Recently, President Biden announced the first ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health which aims to improve women’s health by calling on the Federal government as well as the private and philanthropic sectors to spur innovation, unleash transformative investment to close research gaps, and improve women’s health. While other initiatives like the Black Maternal Health Momnibus act, which was reintroduced earlier this year, aims to make critical investments to address social determinants of health, provide funding for community-based organizations, grow and diversify the perinatal health workforce, expand access to maternal mental health care, and improve data collection processes.
Despite these small policy wins, women’s healthcare has a long ways to go in America. In order to improve outcomes and truly serve the population, there needs to be a broader focus on not only increased research and innovation in the space, but also education and accessibility across the country.