The United States does not enjoy significantly better healthcare than 12 other industrialized countries which spend less, according to a report.
Healthcare expenditures in 2009 came to almost $8,000 per person in the U.S., while countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland spent between one- and two-thirds of that amount, The Commonwealth Fund revealed. Expenses come to about 17 percent of GDP, while in other countries that figure was no higher than 12 percent. Japan posted the lowest figure at 9 percent.
The U.S. outperforms others in areas such as breast and colorectal cancer survival rates, but average in-hospital deaths due to stroke and heart attack are little different and preventable death rates from asthma and amputations because of diabetes are high.
"It is a common assumption that Americans get more health care services than people in other countries, but in fact we do not go to the doctor or the hospital as often," said study author and senior research associate David Squires. "The higher prices we pay for health care and perhaps our greater use of expensive technology are the more likely explanations for high health spending in the U.S. Unfortunately, we do not seem to get better quality for this higher spending."
U.S. physicians performed more MRI and CT scans than any other country that provided data. While researchers noted higher obesity rates might contribute to costs, the U.S. also had fewer smokers and a younger population than most other countries used in the comparison, which might offset that difference.
Emulating some of the differences in how these countries operate could reduce the cost of health coverage in the U.S., impacting employee benefits and individual policies. While other countries also face rising costs, they are higher in this country than others by several metrics.
