France is a far healthier country than America
Yet even its medical care is under strain
France spends less of its national income on health care than America, but is by most measures a lot healthier. Its total health expenditure, at 12.1% of GDP, is well below the 16.6% in America. Yet the French live on average six years longer than Americans. France’s mortality rate from heart attacks is a third of America’s, its obesity rate is about a third as high, and its rate of opioid-linked deaths a tiny fraction.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Fresh prescription”
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