Americans are the least satisfied with their health care system, while the Dutch system is rated the best, according to new research.

Polls about health care in 10 developed countries by Harris Interactive¹ revealed a range of opinions about what works and what doesn't.

In the United States a third of Americans believe their system needs to be completely overhauled², while a further 50 percent feel that fundamental changes need to be made.

"Given that all countries other than the U.S. have universal health care systems in place, this may invite questions on why the US remains⁴ the only wealthy, industrialized country without such a system," Harris president George Terhanian said.

In the Netherlands, where health care is financed by mandatory⁵ health insurance, 42 percent of people think their system works well and needs only minor⁶ changes.

And only nine percent of the Dutch think a complete overhaul³ is necessary, compared to 12 percent in Canada and Spain, 15 percent in Britain and France, 17 percent in Germany and New Zealand, 18 percent in Australia and 20 percent in Italy, according to the polls of more than 1,000 people in each country.

The U.S. model, widely criticized on its combination of private insurance and publicly-funded programs, spends more on health care than any other nation worldwide but ranks low on overall quality of care, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

France's health system, based on compulsory⁷ national insurance, was ranked best in the world by the WHO in 2000, while Britain's National Health Service, the world's largest publicly funded system, was in 18th place.

The Harris comparison of the national surveys showed that 70 percent of the French and 59 percent of Britons think their health services are "the envy of the world."

Nearly 70 percent of Germans, a majority of whom receive coverage⁸ from state-funded insurance plans, feel that access to healthcare depends on a patient's ability to pay for it.

But at least 47 percent of those surveyed in all countries think there are some good things in their systems but they need to be improved.

 
一项有关医疗体制的最新调查显示，美国人对本国的医疗体制最不满意，荷兰的医疗体制满意度最高。

该项由“哈里斯互动”调查公司开展的民意调查涉及十个发达国家，其结果反映了人们对医疗体制有效性的一系列看法。

在美国，三分之一的人认为本国的医疗体制需要彻底改革，另有50%的人觉得需要进行一些根本性的变革。

“哈里斯互动”的总裁乔治•特哈尼安说：“除美国以外的所有其它国家都拥有全民性的医疗保健体制，这就会让人不禁要问：作为一个富有的工业化国家，为什么唯独美国没有这样的医疗体制？”

在荷兰，医疗费用由强制健康保险提供，42%的荷兰人认为他们的医疗体制很合理，只需要进行一些小的改进。

该调查对各国的1000多人进行了访问。调查结果显示，只有9%的荷兰人认为他们的医疗体制需要彻底改革，而这一比例在加拿大和西班牙为12％，英国和法国为15%，德国和新西兰为17%，澳大利亚为18%，意大利为20%。

据世界卫生组织称，美国的医疗体制因将私人保险与公共资助项目混在一起而广受批评，这种体制的医疗支出高于其他任何国家，但整体保障质量却不佳。

在世卫组织2000年的一项排名中，以国家强制保险为基础的法国医疗体制位居第一，而全世界最大的公共医疗体系、英国全国卫生保健服务体系则名列第18位。

“哈里斯互动”对各国调查的对比分析结果显示，70%的法国人和59%的英国人都认为本国的医疗卫生服务体系令“全世界羡慕”。

近70%的德国人认为，是否能够享受医疗保健服务取决于病人的经济承受能力，大部分德国人都享受国家资助的保险计划。

但在各国受访者中，至少有47%的人认为本国的医疗体制中有一些不错的方面，不过仍需要改进。