I just read a pretty amazing book - "Exposed", by journalist Mark Schapiro. It describes another way the US jeopardizes the health of it's citizenry - basically by enabling a lax FDA/EPA in order to keep the cycle of illness and expensive treatment going (ie: there are a lot of toxic chemicals in the products American consumers so voraciously consume)

It's also making the goods we still export less competitive in the global market, since they do not meet European, and increasingly Asian standards.

A reviewer on amazon made the following really good point regarding national health care:

"Health care in the EU is nationalized. The government, using in part taxpayer monies, picks up the tab for taking care of sick and dying people. In this kind of health care environment, you better believe that preventive medicine is a high governmental priority, because neglect today costs more tomorrow. So it's in the interest of the individual EU states, as well as their tax-paying citizens, to make sure that toxins stay out of their countries.

Something to think long and hard about if you live in a country like the U.S. big on deregulation, privatized health care, and plastic stuff."

Fascinating read, highly recommended!