US healthcare system still among least efficient in the world

Washington

THE US healthcare system remains among the least efficient in the world.

America was 50th out of 55 countries in 2014, according to a Bloomberg index that assesses life expectancy, healthcare spending per capita and relative spending as a share of gross domestic product. Expenditures averaged US$9,403 per person, about 17.1 per cent of GDP, that year - the most recent for which data are available - and life expectancy was 78.9. Only Jordan, Colombia, Azerbaijan, Brazil and Russia ranked lower.