Although the U.S. spends more money than any other industrialized nation on health care, there has been no recent improvement in key health outcomes and quality, especially access and efficiency, Philanthropy News Digest reported July 17.

The 2008 report by the Commonwealth Fund found that the U.S. scored an average of 65 out of a possible 100 across all measures, which was lower than its overall score on the 2006 version of the same study. The report also indicated that a staggering 42% of all working-age adults were either underinsured or uninsured as of 2007, up from 35% in 2003.

Despite the United States' poor scores in some areas, the report found that national initiatives focused on specific areas have improved outcomes significantly. For example, hospital standardized mortality ratios improved 19% in the past 5 years, and progress was also seen in the areas of chronic care and acute hospital care quality.

The report suggests that if the U.S. improved its performance in key areas, it could save up to 100,000 lives and $100 billion annually.

Read the full report, "Why Not The Best? Results From The National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance," online (PDF, 1.71 MB).