OECD Report On Health Care Spending

Most of the other 23 nations in a new study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development spend less than half as much per person as the USA on health care. the USA spent $3,094 per person in 1992, or 13.6% of its Gross Domestic Product, said the study, published in health Affairs, and the spending gap with other major countries is widening.

The USA had the fifth highest infant mortality rate (after Turkey, Portugal, Luxembourg and Greece) and the highest percentage of babies with low birth weight.

The report found per capita health spending is climbing higher than consumer prices. Since 1980, health care spending has grown 4.6% a year more than prices in the USA, 2.8% more in Canada, 3.4% in France, 2.5% in Germany, 3.5% in Japan and 3.3% in the UK. Canada spent 10.3% of its GDP, or $1,949 per resident on health in 1992, while Finland spent 9.4% or $1,363, France 9.4% or $1,745, Switzerland 9.3% or $2,068, germany 8.7% or $1,775, Italy 8.5% or $1,497, the UK 7.1% or $1,151, Japan 6.9% or $1,376, and Turkey 4.1% or $156.