Health inclusivity index shows U.S. health equity lags behind expenditures

Per capita, the United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world. But does that investment pay off in terms of health inclusivity? Not necessarily, according to a new report from Economist Impact.

The first-ever Health Inclusivity Index, released on October 11th, looked at health inclusivity amongst 40 different countries. It found that, though there was some correlation between health expenditures and health inclusivity, there was not a strong relationship between the two factors. In fact, some countries with high spending didn’t do so well on inclusivity measures. That includes the United States, which, despite being the top spender, didn’t even reach the top 10 of the countries analyzed.

The analysis looked at 37 indicators of health inclusivity amongst three domains. Those domains were Health in Society, meaning health policy; Inclusive Health Systems, meaning the strength of a country’s health care system; and People and Community Empowerment, meaning people had the tools to handle their own health care. Of those three domains, the analysis found that the final domain, People and Community Empowerment, was the most closely tied to health inclusivity.