Tag: Commonwealth Fund
Comparing the Health Care Systems of 11 Industrial Countries
I was going to post this in the Single Payer thread and in the Open Thread for today, but this turned out to be its own post. This year’s Commonwealth Fund International Profiles of Health Systems (PDF) is out.
This is particularly useful in detailing how governments cover the health care of their citizens (as in, “single payer” looks different depending upon where you are — instructive) and in summarizing overall outcomes of these systems. We get middling quality care and pay more than anyone else for it — 17.7% of our GDP (and this is without covering everybody) vs The Netherlands (the next highest) at 11.9%. We’re in the bottom third of countries able to get same day appointments and in being able to get after hours care. We’re the highest in the number of avoidable medical system deaths and in the bottom third of overall satisfaction with the medical care system. So much for the greatest medical care in the world.
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