- Healthcare -

WHO - World Health Organization

They placed America 37th overall. American healthcare - If you can afford it, it's great. So we rank low on the list of health care in the industrialized nations. We ranked 1st in per capita HC spending. France was rated number 1 the best.

American manufactures site health care insurance overhead as why they can't compete against Japan, who has national healthcare.

The World Health Organization has carried out the first ever analysis of the world’s health systems. Using five performance indicators to measure health systems in 191 member states, it finds that France provides the best overall health care followed among major countries by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan.

Ranking -

From The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems.

1         France
2         Italy
3         San Marino
4         Andorra
5         Malta
6         Singapore
7         Spain
8         Oman
9         Austria
10        Japan
11        Norway
12        Portugal
13        Monaco
14        Greece
15        Iceland
16        Luxembourg
17        Netherlands
18        United  Kingdom

19        Ireland
20        Switzerland
21        Belgium
22        Colombia
23        Sweden
24        Cyprus
25        Germany
26        Saudi Arabia
27        United  Arab  Emirates
28        Israel
29        Morocco
30        Canada
31        Finland
32        Australia
33        Chile
34        Denmark
35        Dominica
36        Costa Rica
37        United States of America

From Grading Global Healthcare-
"In our earthly unfair world, money certainly matters a great deal but money is not everything. The most expensive healthcare system in the world did not earn the highest grade from the WHO. More holistic or integrative approaches could upgrade the world's healthcare systems that rely too much on expensive heroics. France, also recognized as the world's premier model in prenatal care, makes l'amour with attitude sound très bon! "

"WHO recommended that countries extend health insurance to as many people as possible. That doesn't mean endorsing government-run insurance. Countries with good mixes of private and public programs do well. But the worst way to pay for care is out of pocket at the time of illness."

Caller from France -

A guy from France called a radio station I listen to and said he is an American living in France. He loves their "single payer" healthcare system and said for that reason he would hesitate to return to the US because of our healthcare system.

Caller from Canada -

Right after this caller from France called a guy from Canada called. He doesn't understand why people always use Canada as an example of why socialized healthcare doesn't work. He said his healthcare is great.

I read that "Most provinces have also established formal reporting systems on waiting lists, with wait times for each hospital posted on the Internet. This public attention has led to recent falls in waits there." This tells me things have improved (and provinces might differ) so it's important to read current information.

I found this comment posted from a person in Canada dated 2007-
"In Canada there is not a long wait for surgery if it is more serious. For non serious cases it can be a few months, or more. Office visits are about the same amount of time as in the USA. The cost per month for a single person is around $50-$80 a month. As far as I know both doctors and patients are happy. There is very few doctor lawsuits, and everyone is covered totally."

"France has a basic system of public health insurance that, as of January 2000, covers everybody in the nation."

Here is an article that I found linked off the healthcare blog site above: Health Care: France "France's health care system bodyslams us on most every metric. Beyond the beds per 1,000 stat mentioned above, France has more doctors per 1,000 people (3.3 vs. 2.4), spends way less, has 3.2 more physician visits per capita (6 in France vs. 2.8 in America, which probably accounts for the better preventive care in France), has a much higher hospital admission rate, and beats us handily on the most important measure: potential years of life lost. American women lose 3,836 years per 100,000, while American men give up 6,648 in the same sample size (yes, we get screwed). In France, the comparable numbers are 2,588 years for the women and 5,610 for the men. Still not great, but quite a bit better.

Which system works?

• So far no country’s health care system stands out as the “best in class” system
• The 2002 WHO report mentions it doesn't endorse government run insurance as “best in class”, as countries with good mixes of private and public programs seem to do well - sometimes better. More countries need to experiment with mixing public with private health care insurance - and make it affordable for everyone
  • Those who can afford, can seek care in the private setting - not having to deal with long waits and rationing
  • Those who cannot afford, can seek the same level of health care in the public setting; may have to deal with some wait and (appropriate) rationing by the government

****Definitely read this article - Don't be Stupid

Good websites on healthcare -

• The HealthCare Blog.com
• Another good site - Physicians on a National Health Program
• Lengthy reading - The World Health Report 2008 - Primary Health Care - Now More Than Ever