[ QUOTE ]
In 2003, the US spent 15.3 percent of its gdp on healthcare.
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Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
[/ QUOTE ] That alone is not enough to gauge relative efficiency. Where does the money go in every country? What kind of infrastructure is it supporting? These are the questions one has to ask.
So here are some more stats (from the 1990s, but the relative measures are equally valid today):
Doctors' incomes:
United States $132,300
Germany 91,244
Denmark 50,585
Finland 42,943
Norway 35,356
Sweden 25,768
Percent of population covered by public health care:
France, Austria 99
Switzerland, Spain, Belgium 98
Germany 92
Netherlands 77
United States 40
Average paid maternity leave:
Sweden 32 weeks
France 28
United Kingdom 18
Norway 18
Denmark 18
Japan 14
Germany 14
Netherlands 12
United States 0 *
* as of 1991; this changed with Clinton's signing of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.
(Source :
"Where We Stand", by Michael Wolff, Peter Rutten, Albert Bayers III, and the World Rank Research Team, 1996.)