The Obligate Scientist: How does U.S. healthcare compare with other countries?

Many have already seen this nice article by T. R. Reid in the Washington Post, but it's such a worthwhile read I thought I'd give it some mention here. The short answer to the question in the title above is summed up nicely near the end of the article:

In many ways, foreign health-care models are not really "foreign" to America, because our crazy-quilt health-care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we're Britain: The government provides health care, funding it through general taxes, and patients get no bills. For people who get insurance through their jobs, we're Germany: Premiums are split between workers and employers, and private insurance plans pay private doctors and hospitals. For people over 65, we're Canada: Everyone pays premiums for an insurance plan run by the government, and the public plan pays private doctors and hospitals according to a set fee schedule. And for the tens of millions without insurance coverage, we're Burundi or Burma: In the world's poor nations, sick people pay out of pocket for medical care; those who can't pay stay sick or die.

More details on the proposed U.S. healthcare system changes - and the many myths and outright lies about those those changes - at: