Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.

Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.

Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.

Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians.

Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians.

Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K.



Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed.



Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians.



Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K.



Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.

Conclusion: Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.

Scott Atlas, M.D.

,senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center.