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Study find U.S. health ‘mediocre’ compared to other wealthy countries

Posted at 7:29 PM, Jul 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-10 19:29:42-04

(CBS)--A comprehensive study on the state of U.S. health has found high rates of chronic illness and disability have caused the country to lag behind other wealthy nations.

However, overall health has improved among Americans since 1990, the report found. We may just have a ways to go to reverse negative trends and improve health care.

"The United States spends the most per capita on health care across all countries, lacks universal health coverage, and lags behind other high-income countries for life expectancy and many other health outcome measures," wrote the authors of the new report, published July 10 inJAMA.

"High costs with mediocre population health outcomes at the national level are compounded by marked disparities across communities, socioeconomic groups, and race and ethnicity groups," added the authors, led by Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, a professor of Global Health at the University of Washington and Institute Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

Click on the video for the full report. Story by Ryan Jaslow, continues on CBS website.