With the US among the few advanced countries that does not recognize access as a basic human right, and more reliant than others on the private sector, it is no surprise that many Americans do not&nbsp;get the medicines they need. Though the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has improved matters, health-insurance coverage remains weak, with almost half of the 50 US states refusing to expand Medicaid, the health-care financing program for America’s poor.
许多因素导致了美国在健康方面的落后，其中的教训可供其他国家借鉴。首先，能够就医很重要。美国是极少数不承认有病可医属于基本人权的发达国家之一，比其他发达国家更加依靠私人部门，因此毫不奇怪许多美国人得不到他们所需要的医药。尽管患者保护和平价医疗法（Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act，即奥巴马医保）改善了这一问题，但健康保险覆盖率仍然很低，美国50个州中有近一半拒绝扩大美国穷人医疗融资计划——医疗补助（Medicaid）。