Last week's news in our insurance woes took the American health care situation global. According to Reuters, the U.S. ranked worst of all wealthy nations when it came to treating preventable illnesses. Why? We need greater access for all citizens to affordable health insurance.

The article states that "France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations."

If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year. What's stopping us? We need more affordable health insurance, and we need a health care system dedicated to preventing sickness, not just treating it.

After all, pharmaceutical companies don't spend billions on medications to keep you from getting sick, they want to treat you when you need their product to stay alive.

The top two in the list of healthy nations - France and Japan - offer a universal health care plan to all citizens, a move that has been hotly debated by upcoming presidential hopefuls.

But here, even a system that offers more affordable health insurance rates to most people could make a significant impact in the prevention of disease. Studies prove that those people who are insured live longer, healthier lives. This is mainly due to yearly checkups and access to doctors who can offer the right kind of advice to patients on the wrong track.

There are 47 million uninsured in America, and making insurance more available to them could easily put the U.S. at the top when it comes to taking care of sick or injured citizens.