And some of those countries' systems are already duplicated in the U.S. in one shape or another, says T.R. Reid in a Sunday column in the Washington Post. He is author of the book "The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care."
"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," Reid writes.
"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. ... 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."
The difference between the U.S. and countries that cover all their citizens, produce better health and do it at less cost? The other countries have picked a single system, says Reid. In the U.S., we've settled on a costly, bureaucracy-laden blend with big coverage gaps and high overhead, he says.
We don't have to have socialized medicine to get higher quality, less expense and coverage for everyone. But we've messed up the system and need to engineer a dramatic shift in our country, as Reid points out.
BOTTOM LINE: Let's take a lesson from the success of other countries' health care systems.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.