World Comparison Shows U.S. Healthcare Lacking (1/3 of Americans Have Gone Without Care) [View All]

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Source: Reuters

World comparison shows U.S. healthcare lacking
Thu Nov 18, 2010 8:13am EST

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third of Americans say they have gone without medical care or skipped filling a prescription because of cost, compared to 5 percent in the Netherlands, according to study released on Thursday.

The study is the latest in a series by the non-profit Commonwealth Fund showing that while Americans pay far more per capita for healthcare, they are unhappier with the results and less healthy than people in other rich countries.

The study published in the journal Health Affairs also showed that 20 percent of U.S. adults had major problems paying medical bills, compared with 2 percent in Britain and 9 percent in France, the next costliest country.

"U.S. adults were the most likely to incur high medical expenses, even when insured, and to spend time on insurance paperwork and disputes or to have payments denied," the report reads.

Read more: http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AH15820101118?ca=rdt