The Commonwealth Fund released a report examining health care systems in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.  The report examines each system individually, highlighting eligible participants, covered services, average out-of-pocket contributions, and the systems’ overall financing mechanisms.  Each country’s section also examines that nation’s efforts to improve efficiency and quality as well as any recently introduced reforms and innovations.  The authors found that, though the U.S. did not have the highest out-of-pocket costs, its coverage system is the most fragmented and leaves the most residents uninsured.

From the report:

This publication presents overviews of the health care systems of 13 countries—Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. A summary table presents information on population, health care spending, number of physicians, hospital spending and utilization, use of health information technology, and number of potentially avoidable deaths. Each country summary provides information on insurance coverage and benefits, health system financing, delivery system organization, quality assurance mechanisms, efforts to improve efficiency and control costs, and recent innovations and reforms.

Full report: International Profiles of Health Care Systems (PDF | 1.4 MB) 

The Commonwealth Fund. (2010). International profiles of health care systems. Squires, D.