美國(guó)人在醫(yī)療保健上的花費(fèi)比那些全球最富有國(guó)家的居民要更多。然而，比起澳大利亞、加拿大和德國(guó)等發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，美國(guó)的成年人可能有著最糟糕的健康狀況。這是為什么呢？

《衛(wèi)生事務(wù)》（Health Affairs）在網(wǎng)上發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)最新研究表明，這與金錢有關(guān)。美國(guó)極高的醫(yī)療費(fèi)用，正是導(dǎo)致美國(guó)人健康排名較低的原因。

在2016年3月至6月，研究報(bào)告的作者對(duì)11個(gè)國(guó)家——澳大利亞、加拿大、法國(guó)、德國(guó)、荷蘭、新西蘭、挪威、瑞典、瑞士、英國(guó)和美國(guó)——18歲以上的成年人進(jìn)行了電話調(diào)查。他們請(qǐng)受訪者回答他們對(duì)醫(yī)保系統(tǒng)的感受，分為方便程度、服務(wù)質(zhì)量和價(jià)格的可負(fù)擔(dān)程度三項(xiàng)。受訪者也要回答一些關(guān)于個(gè)人健康和幸福的問題。

結(jié)果如何？研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國(guó)有33%的成年人表示他們不接受推薦的醫(yī)療保健方法，不在生病的時(shí)候看醫(yī)生，還會(huì)因?yàn)閮r(jià)格太高而不去買處方上的藥。盡管這一比例相比2013年的37%有所下降，但英國(guó)只有7%、荷蘭和瑞典只有8%的受訪者表示他們有付不起醫(yī)藥費(fèi)的情況。

此外，有31%的美國(guó)受訪者表示存在著“物質(zhì)困難”，有15%表示他們擔(dān)心自己沒有足夠的錢購(gòu)買營(yíng)養(yǎng)豐富的食物，另外16%則表示他們難以承擔(dān)房租或按揭。

總體來看，比起其他10個(gè)接受調(diào)查的國(guó)家，美國(guó)幾乎在各個(gè)方面都表現(xiàn)不佳。此外，美國(guó)和加拿大的受訪者都有許多“慢性疾病”，比如關(guān)節(jié)炎、哮喘、糖尿病或心臟病，比例分別為28%和22%。這也是僅有的比例超過20%的兩個(gè)國(guó)家。

研究指出，盡管在《平價(jià)醫(yī)療法案》（Affordable Care Act）下，美國(guó)擴(kuò)大了醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)范圍，但研究報(bào)告的作者表示，該國(guó)“與其他高收入國(guó)家的醫(yī)療保健水平仍然不屬于一個(gè)檔次”。

一個(gè)好的方面是，美國(guó)人求診專家更加容易。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，只有6%的美國(guó)成人表示他們需要等待兩個(gè)月以上才能見到專家，相較其他國(guó)家，這個(gè)比例還算不錯(cuò)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴(yán)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.