Private insurance is also little used in Great Britain. About 11 percent of
the population has it. Many use private insurance to escape waiting lists
for elective services. But, the great majority of care is paid for by the
government.
There are pluses and minuses to the single-payer system that those two
countries have. Among the pluses, health care expenditures in Great
Britain
come to about $2,724 a person. Canada spends $3,359 per resident.
Meanwhile,
the U.S., spends about $6,401 per resident, according to worldwide figures
compiled by the Organization for Economic Development.
Many doubt that the U.S. is getting good value for all that spending. It
also makes it harder for U.S. companies to compete internationally.
"That's why it costs less to build a car in Canada than in the United
States
because you've got a bunch of money tied up in health insurance," said
Steven Lewis, a Canadian health consultant.
The high costs also translate into greater difficulty in obtaining care.
About a quarter of adults in the U.S. say they did not visit a doctor when
sick. About the same percentage said they skipped medical tests or
treatments recommended by their doctor. By comparison, only 3 percent of
people in Great Britain skipped care recommended by their doctor and only
5
percent did so in Canada, according to a survey conducted by the
Commonwealth Fund last year.
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