A study of 13 industrialized countries
released Thursday showed Japan
spends the least on health care, while
the United States spends the most
without providing superior care for
the money. The United States spent nearly USD
8,000 per person in 2009 on health
care services, more than Australia,
Britain, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Japan, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Sweden or Switzerland. Japan spent the least -- USD 2,878 per
capita in 2008 -- according to the
report by The Commonwealth Fund, a
private foundation that promotes
improved health care in the United
States. US health care spending amounted to
more than 17 percent of gross
domestic product in 2009, while
Japan's was under nine percent of
GDP. "Japan operates a fee-for-service
system, while offering unrestricted
access to specialists and hospitals and
a large supply of MRI and CT
scanners," said the report. "Rather than containing costs by
restricting access, Japan instead sets
health care prices to keep total health
spending within a budget allotted by
the government." In contrast, the US system is
beleaguered by higher prices, more
readily accessible technology and
widespread obesity. The United States had among the
highest rates of potentially
preventable deaths due to asthma
and diabetes-linked amputations, and
showed average rates of in-hospital
deaths from heart attack and stroke, it said. Common prescription drugs cost one
third more in the United States
compared to Canada and Germany,
and were more than double that paid
for the same drugs in Australia,
Britain, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand. "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 David Squires, senior research associate at The
Commonwealth Fund. "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 US. Unfortunately, we
do not seem to get better quality for this higher spending." Data for the study came from the
Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and
other sources, the foundation said.