That’s probably up for debate among the actually developed countries but it’s pretty easy to see who’s not #1 and who never will be under it’s present system.

Remarkable the decisions you’re able to make and the conclusions you can come to when you have access to all sides of a story instead of just the side the Masters of the Universe want you to have.

During the debate on the ACA, the wingers were telling us constantly that we had the best health care system in the world and some wags were snorting with laughter thinking they were first with the line “best health care (lots of) money can buy”.

Remember when the low rent moron and editor at Investor’s Business Daily infamously stated that renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s Disease,  wouldn’t be alive today if he’d had to depend on a system of “socialized medicine” like the UK’s National Health Service?

Of course most of us who knew where to look for and interpret the information knew that we DIDN’T have the best system in the world nor did we did even have the best system money could buy.

And those of us who don’t suffer from the 21st century tribalism that inflicts most of the Wall Street sharks… and the miserable little remora (sucker fish for our Teaper friends) that attach themselves to the sharks and live off of their leavings (like IBD editors)… even knew that Stephen Hawking was a British citizen and that he is alive today precisely BECAUSE of the NHS.

Well anyway, The Guardian has this cool story today that provides a little different perspective as to which country has the best health care system and… in terms of highest levels of service for the the money spent… the least expensive overall.  If you’re not a bought and paid for Kochminion or an utter Tea party “moran” you won’t be surprised.  Then again, if you ARE a Tea Party “moran” you most likely won’t care because “socialized medicine” is simply anti-American because… well… because our health care industry and the Koch Brothers say so, that’s why.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/07/nhs-among-most-efficient-health-services

The NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the developed world, according to a study (pdf) published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The “surprising” findings show the NHS saving more lives for each pound spent as a proportion of national wealth than any other country apart from Ireland over 25 years. Among the 17 countries considered, the United States healthcare system was among the least efficient and
effective.

Researchers said that this contradicted assertions by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that the NHS needed competition and choice to become more efficient.

“The government proposals to change the NHS are largely based on the idea that the NHS is less efficient and effective than other countries,
especially the US,” said Professor Colin Pritchard, of Bournemouth University, who analysed a quarter of a century’s data from 1980.

“The results question why we need a big set of health reform proposals … The system works well. Look at the US and you can see where choice and
competition gets you. Pretty dismal results.”

Based on the American Model, I’d be looking for ties between Mr. Lansley and the for profit health care industry… the AMERICAN health care industry since we’re the only country in the world that has one… about now because they’re the only people who would stand to benefit from a transition to a for profit health care system.  One thing I’ve learned in the past few years is that aside from the willfully ignorant and uninformed, the only people who push privatization are those that stand to make something from it.

Using the latest data from the World Health Organisation, the paper shows that although Labour’s tax-and-spend strategy for the NHS saw health spending rise to a record 9.3% of GDP, this was less than Germany with 10.7% or the US with 15%.

Not only was the UK cheaper, says the paper, it saved more lives. The NHS reduced the number of adult deaths a million of the population by 3,951 a year – far better than the nearest comparable European countries. France managed 2,779 lives a year and Germany 2,395.

This means, the paper says, that dramatic NHS improvements have led to a situation where that there are now 162,000 fewer deaths every year compared with 1980.
The paper says the US suffers from a “relatively huge bureaucratic burden needed to monitor the costs, behaviour and risks of customers, as well as the immense legal costs required to control payment”.

Looking at elderly patients, the difference was even more stark with the best performers – Ireland, the UK and New Zealand – having health systems
that were three times more effective and efficient than the worst – Switzerland, Portugal and the US.

And in the UK, you don’t get turned down or charged more because of pre-existing conditions, your kids don’t have to be on your policy until they’re 26 because there is no policy and they’re already covered on their own, they don’t have to take benefits away from pensioners to fund care for the middle class, doctors can’t refuse to see you because they’re not going to make enough money for their corporations and LLCs  and on and on.  You’re a citizen, your covered.

Time to start looking past the jingoism and slogan spouting and take a look at the numbers.  Of all the different ways we… that’s we the people… are being scammed by Wall Street and our own government, this whole for profit Ponzi based health care industry thing is not only one of the most blatant, but the most deadly.

Allowing people to die because you can’t make any money from helping them live… it doesn’t get much lower than that.