In accordance with NCBI (2013), even though the US is considered one of the wealthiest countries, it is not among one the healthiest nations. And regardless of the fact that survival rates and life expectancy in the US have significantly improved over the last ten decades, people of the US still experience more illnesses and injuries and have a shorter lifespan in comparison with people living in other high-income nations. The health disadvantage of the US cannot be solely attributed to the negative status of health of ethnic or racial minorities, because some recent researches suggest that advanced Americans might also be in worse health in comparison with other people in other nations.

            Both the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council were asked by the National Institute of Health to make a panel of several experts for studying this issue. The analysis of panel compared the outcomes of health in the US with those of sixteen peer or high-income nations including Japan, Italy, France, Denmark, and Canada among other nations. Historical trends were also examined and it was determined that for several years, the people of America had a shorter expectancy of life than people in other nations. And for the past thirty years, the difference in expectancy of life has been increasing.

            More specifically, the US has experienced a high rate of infant mortality in comparison with other developed nations and ranks poorly on some other outcomes of birth. In addition to it, deaths from different types of accidents are significantly higher in the US in comparison with other developed nations. Due to it, not only adolescents but children also die due to these accidents. When it comes to HIV, the US possesses the second highest prevalence in comparison with other developed nations. Due to all of these issues, the health status of the US is comparatively low.

            In order to increase this health status, following recommendations should be considered by the US government:

·         The prevalence of information associated with health should be increased among people. Campaigns should be implemented which can inform people about these issues and how these issues can be resolved.

·         In addition to it, the costs of healthcare should be decreased in such a manner that common and poor people can afford getting checkups and necessary treatments without having to pay a significant amount of money. Both of these solutions will serve to increase the health status of the US. It is, however, important to note that this process will take some time to deliver positive results (NCBI, 2013).

References of  changed in the US health system that could improve on our health cost profile and health status rankings compared to other countries?

NCBI. (2013). U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. Retrieved from NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154469/

NYTimes. (2016). Should the Veterans Health Care System be Privatized? Retrieved from NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/28/should-the-veterans-health-care-system-be-privatized