A new review shows that, despite spending over $2.7 trillion per year,    the United States isn’t keeping up with the rest of the developed world when it comes to outcomes and health improvements.  In fact, the American healthcare system has “performed relatively poorly.”  American life expectancy is rising, but not at the same rate as in Europeans’.  A significant reason is because Americans have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, perinatal disorders, respiratory diseases and infectious diseases.  In addition, costs for professional services are going up.  The review argues that a significant reason for the rising costs is that the patients don’t know how much they are paying for healthcare services, and there is often no clear price disclosure before receiving services.

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