花钱多却买不来健康，美国人健康水平堪忧

美国人在医疗保健上的花费比那些全球最富有国家的居民要更多。然而，比起澳大利亚、加拿大和德国等发达国家，美国的成年人可能有着最糟糕的健康状况。这是为什么呢？

《卫生事务》（Health Affairs）在网上发布的一项最新研究表明，这与金钱有关。美国极高的医疗费用，正是导致美国人健康排名较低的原因。

在2016年3月至6月，研究报告的作者对11个国家——澳大利亚、加拿大、法国、德国、荷兰、新西兰、挪威、瑞典、瑞士、英国和美国——18岁以上的成年人进行了电话调查。他们请受访者回答他们对医保系统的感受，分为方便程度、服务质量和价格的可负担程度三项。受访者也要回答一些关于个人健康和幸福的问题。

结果如何？研究发现，美国有33%的成年人表示他们不接受推荐的医疗保健方法，不在生病的时候看医生，还会因为价格太高而不去买处方上的药。尽管这一比例相比2013年的37%有所下降，但英国只有7%、荷兰和瑞典只有8%的受访者表示他们有付不起医药费的情况。

此外，有31%的美国受访者表示存在着“物质困难”，有15%表示他们担心自己没有足够的钱购买营养丰富的食物，另外16%则表示他们难以承担房租或按揭。

总体来看，比起其他10个接受调查的国家，美国几乎在各个方面都表现不佳。此外，美国和加拿大的受访者都有许多“慢性疾病”，比如关节炎、哮喘、糖尿病或心脏病，比例分别为28%和22%。这也是仅有的比例超过20%的两个国家。

研究指出，尽管在《平价医疗法案》（Affordable Care Act）下，美国扩大了医疗保险范围，但研究报告的作者表示，该国“与其他高收入国家的医疗保健水平仍然不属于一个档次”。

一个好的方面是，美国人求诊专家更加容易。研究发现，只有6%的美国成人表示他们需要等待两个月以上才能见到专家，相较其他国家，这个比例还算不错。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

Americans spend more on health care coverage than those who live in some of the world’s wealthiest nations. Yet, adults in the United States are thought to have worse health compared to people in countries like Australia, Canada, and Germany. What gives?

It has to do with money, according to a recent study published online in Health Affairs. The extremely high cost of health care in the U.S. is what ranks Americans so low on the health scale.

Study authors conducted telephone surveys in 11 different countries—Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.—between March and June 2016 among adults age 18 and older. They asked respondents questions about their experiences with their health care systems, namely the type of accessibility, quality, and affordability. The respondents also answered questions having to do with personal health and well-being.

The results? Thirty-three percent of adults in the U.S. said they would go without recommended health care, not see a doctor when sick, or fail to fill a prescription because of the cost. Although this number is down from 37% in 2013, only 7% of respondents in the U.K. and 8% in the Netherlands and Sweden said they experienced any affordability issues, according to the survey.

What’s more, 31% of Americans surveyed reported some type of “material hardship;” 15% said they were concerned about having enough money to buy nutritious food; and another 16% said they were struggling to afford their rent or mortgage.

Overall, the U.S. performed poorly in almost all measures when compared to the 10 other countries surveyed. However, similar percentages of adults in the U.S. and Canada have multiple “chronic conditions,” such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, at 28% and 22%, respectively. Still, America and Canada were the only two countries to report a number over 20%.

Although the U.S. has made progress in expanding insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, notes the study, it “still remains an outlier among high-income countries in ensuring access to health care,” according to the study’s authors.

One bright side, the U.S. reported more access to specialists, with only 6% of American adults reporting they had to wait longer than two months to see a specialist—a comparable rate to the other countries surveyed, according to the study.