Universal HealthCare 5/9/2017 0 Comments by E.L. Christianson Jr. United States President Donald Trump praised Australia's universal health care system. Melania Trump, the wife of the president is from Slovenia where they also have universal health care. In the United States, we spend $8,233 per year per person for health care.  That figure is more than two-and-a-half times more than most developed nations in the world, including relatively rich European countries like France, Sweden and the United Kingdom. United States health care costs are 17.6 percent of GDP. Let’s consider what 17 cents of every U.S. dollar is purchasing. According to the most recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — an international economic group comprised of 34 member nations — it’s not as much as many Americans expect. In the United States: There are fewer physicians per person than in most other OECD countries. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. had 2.4 practicing physicians per 1,000 people — well below below the OECD average of 3.1. There are fewer hospital beds per person - The number of hospital beds in the U.S. was 2.6 per 1,000 population in 2009, lower than the OECD average of 3.4 beds. Life expectancy at birth is less -  it increased by almost nine years between 1960 and 2010, but that’s less than the increase of over 15 years in Japan and over 11 years on average in OECD countries. The average American now lives 78.7 years in 2010, more than one year below the average of 79.8 years. Here in the United States of America where we love to 'strut our stuff' and brag about American Exceptionalism, we spend far more for health care and get far less for our money.  That truly is 'exceptional' and that's the truth !!!