Our Blended and Confused Health Care System

Here is one of the most interesting articles on health care around the world that I've read. It's by T. R. Reid, a well-traveled reporter for the Washington Post. Here's an excerpt:

U.S. health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs in
the world; they spend roughly 20 cents of every dollar for nonmedical costs,
such as paperwork, reviewing claims and marketing. France's health insurance
industry, in contrast, covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on
administration. Canada's universal insurance system, run by government
bureaucrats, spends 6 percent on administration. In Taiwan, a leaner version of
the Canadian model has administrative costs of 1.5 percent; one year, this
figure ballooned to 2 percent, and the opposition parties savaged the government
for wasting money.

The world champion at controlling medical costs is Japan, even though
its aging population is a profligate consumer of medical care. On average, the
Japanese go to the doctor 15 times a year, three times the U.S. rate. They have
twice as many MRI scans and X-rays. Quality is high; life expectancy and
recovery rates for major diseases are better than in the United States. And yet
Japan spends about $3,400 per person annually on health care; the United States
spends more than $7,000.