How does the U.S. Health Care system compare with other countries?.In order to answer this question I created five charts that are listed below. This article is an update to “A Comparison of U.S. Health Care Spending with Other OECD Countries ” I wrote back in July.

1.Total Expenditure on Health per Capita in USA

Click to Expand

The U.S. spends the highest among the OECD countries  as shown above. The data used is for 2006. On a per capita basis, the U.S. spent $6,933. Most countries in the chart spent less than half of that amount.

2.Total Expenditure on Health as a percentage of GDP

Health expenditures as percentage of GDP was 15.8%, the highest among the countries listed. France spent 11% of its GDP while Canada spent 10%.

3.Doctors Consultations per Capita

While the US spends the most amount of money for health care, doctor consultations by Americans is one of the lowest.For France it is over 6 compared to under 4 for US. This chart shows that the higher amount spent by Americans does not necessarily go to seeing doctors. I suspect it goes to many unnecessary things like tons of paperwork, procedures, etc.

 4.Infant Mortality Rates

Turkey and Mexico have the highest infant mortality rates. Among the developed countries, the rate for U.S. is high.

5.Total Hospital Beds

Japan has the highest number of hospitals beds per 1,000. The U.S. rate is lower many developed countries like France, Canada and the U.K.

Other charts:

6. Medical Graduates per 100,000

 7. General Practitioners and Specialists

Source: OECD

From the charts above, it is clear that the U.S. health care system needs to be improved. The current system is inefficient and does not offer the best possible for the amount spent.