Commonwealth Fund recently issued a report that ranked the National Healthcare Systems (NHS) among 11 of the world’s most advanced nations. Where did the U.S. rank in this report? Last.

However, this report can be misleading. The report’s methodology relied heavily on subjective surveys investigating the perceptions and experiences of patients and physicians, rather than objective data from peer-reviewed academic journals.

American cancer patients have shown to have better survival rates for all major cancers than Western Europe and the U.K.  In the U.K. doctors are penalized for treating patients beyond the original diagnosis.  In the United States, patients are routinely treated for all ailments not just the ailment that caused treatment.

Americans diagnosed with heart disease receive far more frequent treatment with medication than patients in Western Europe. Granted however Americans have far more cases of heart disease, but that is a whole story itself.

So how are NHS doing around the world? Well, not so great. In Britain for example, who has had a NHS since 1948, hospital waiting lists are at their highest point since 2006 despite receiving roughly £100 billion a year from the Department of Health. Britain has responded by turning to private care. From 2006-2012, its NHS spending on private care increased 55% despite significant reductions in spending attributed to the financial crisis. Six million British citizens buy private health insurance with about 250,000 citizens paying out-of-pocket each year, despite the annual NHS insurance cost of $3,500 per person.   In the United States we estimate that Medicare outlays an average of more than $11,000 per patient.

What about Sweden? Often viewed as the paradigm of a successful welfare state, long wait times and aggressive funding for private healthcare is occurring there as well. Swedish primary-care clinics and nursing facilities are increasingly run by the private sector. The average Swedish family pays nearly $20,000 a year in taxes toward health care, but still 12% of working citizens bought private insurance in 2013.   That amount is more than the average American Family pays for health care which according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation was $16,351.

Clearly, NHS has its faults. The key goals for health-care reform such as expanding access to affordable coverage, preserving personal choice and reducing spending has fallen short around the world. Given ObamaCare’s very shaky start,  it is interesting to note that care around the world in developed countries may not be all it is cracked up to be!