U.S. Looks Bad in International COVID-19 Comparisons

The United States usually doesn’t fare very well in international health comparisons. The country’s healthcare ranks among, if not the, most expensive. The outcomes, as measured by metrics such as life expectancy at birth, are not top tier, especially when the U.S. is compared to well-off countries in Europe and Asia.

The story with COVID-19 is similar, according to data reported recently by Kaiser Family Foundation. Among the dozen developed countries included in the foundation’s analysis, only Belgium, at 90.4 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 population, was worse than the U.S., at 66.5 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000. By contrast, Japan’s rate of 1.3 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 is stunningly low, as is Australia’s (3.6 per 100,000) and Germany’s (11.7 per 100,000).

Kaiser’s ranking of the leading causes of death is also sobering. COVID-19 is on course to being the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind only the perennial leaders, heart disease and cancer. In Japan, COVID-19 is on track to being the 29th leading cause of death and in Germany, the 17th