For a change of pace, let's review some international data relevant to the health care debate.

There are 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - the OECD. Only three of the 30 - the United States, Mexico and Turkey - have failed to get anywhere close to universal health care insurance.

A few latest-available comparisons:

Total U.S. health spending accounted for 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2007, by far the highest ratio among OECD countries.

In 2007, total health spending in the United States was $7,290 per capita, almost 2½ times the OECD average of $2,964.

Private insurance accounts for 35 percent of total health spending in the United States, much more than in any other OECD country.

The United States, Canada and France are the only OECD countries where private insurance is more than 10 percent of total health spending.

In 2007, despite its heavy health expenditure, the United States had only 2.4 practicing physicians per 1,000 population, well below the OECD average of 3.1.

In 2006, U.S. life expectancy was 78.1 years, almost one year below the OECD average of 79 years.

The infant mortality rate in the United States receded over the past few decades, but not as much as in most other OECD countries. The U.S. rate was 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006; the OECD average was 4.9.

The foregoing is adapted with permission from the OECD report "OECD Health Data 2009 - How Does the United States Compare," available online.

Roger Vance

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