Countries with free-market heath care

[austinap]

I did some google searching and couldn't find a good list, so I thought I'd post here. Does anyone have a list of other first world countries that have a free market insurance system comparable to ours? Thanks!

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[ChicoMaki]

Switzerland is the only other country with a system comparable to the. and go figure that they are second in per capita GDP spending on health care (behind the USA)

 

[austinap]

Switzerland is the only other country with a system comparable to the. and go figure that they are second in per capita GDP spending on health care (behind the USA)

Even Switzerland isn't that similar: their basic care is still universal (though implemented through private insurers), only advanced procedures and elective surgeries aren't covered. Also, insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit on 'fundamental care' and can only make a profit on extra coverage.

But yeah... shortly after posting this I found a source stating that the US is the only first world country without some system of universal health care.

 

[Longshanks]

I did some google searching and couldn't find a good list, so I thought I'd post here. Does anyone have a list of other first world countries that have a free market insurance system comparable to ours? Thanks!

Simply put, none. No other modernized nation has a cowboy laissez faire system like ours.

And yes, I realize ours already isn't technically laissez faire but you get the point. All other post-industrial modernized nations have some form of universal coverage, whether that be a single payer system (ex Canada), nationalized (ex UK), or a mixed system of public and private with universal coverage (ex France & Germany). In terms of pay though, German physicians get the shaft. UK and France are respectable though, still significantly lower than US median salary, but keep in mind that their education is paid for so they aren't paying debt, which in some ways evens it out at least early in your career. Private insurance is still available in the UK however, and this tends to be provided through businesses to their employees, and may cover extra benefits such as international health care for travelling businessmen and women, which the NHS doesn't provide obviously.