Healthcare look around the world infographic

Healthcare Look Around the World Healthcare still remains a hot button topic in the U.S. According to Bloomberg, the state of healthcare in the U.S. still remains among the least efficient on a global level. Bloomberg takes into account many factors including life expectancy and how much money is spent on healthcare per person. There's no debate that healthcare in the U.S. needs some kind of reform, but should we be looking to other countries for a blueprint of what successful healthcare systems looks like? Here's a quick look at different healthcare systems around the world, and where they rank.

1. France In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked France first in its survey of health care systems. French citizens have universal health coverage that's provided by the government.

Funds come from required contributions from citizens based on income. In return, the country reimburses about 70 percent of most medical bills. The French people are allowed to see any health provider they choose, and about 42 percent can get a same-day appointment.

2. Germany All citizens must have health insurance in Germany, which they purchase from private, nonprofit funds. There are about 200 of these plans, none of which is allowed to deny coverage for a pre-existing condition. To finance this system, Germans pay 8 percent of their salary into a sickness fund; employers match it. Those who can't afford the plans are eligible for public assistance, and children are covered by taxpayer funds. The wealthiest 10 percent of citizens are allowed to opt out of the system and use a for-profit plan, though the non-profit plans provide very generous benefits, such as time at a spa.

Germany has introduced a series of disease management programs that have proven quite successful. The country found that when patients received more counseling from their doctors as well as regular phone calls from nurses, the rates of hospital admissions and deaths related to conditions like heart disease and diabetes were substantially lowered.

3. Britain Thanks to the current health care reform debate, most Americans know Britain as the home of socialized medicine, complete with rationed health care -- in other words, two things that many Americans fear. Both counts are true. Britain has socialized medicine, which means that in addition to paying for all citizens to have insurance, the government also hires and pays the doctors and runs the hospitals. British citizens pay taxes, which the National Health Service (NHS) allocates to providers. When a citizen shows up for an appointment, all services that he or she receives are paid for, with the exception of prescription drugs.

4. Canada In a 2008 survey, Canadians named universal health care as one of the 10 most defining factors of Canada. Such definition may be a bit of a mixed bag, if you consider some of the scary

commercials currently running in the U.S. that hint that health care reform will turn us into Canada. What would such a thing mean?

All Canadian citizens have health care that is funded by income taxesand sales tax. The national government has oversight for members of the military and native people on reserves, but the 10 provincial and three territorial governments take care of the rest. The doctors and hospitals are private entities, which distinguishes the Canadian system from the British socialized medicine system, in which doctors are employees of the government. Canadian health care providers bill the government, so that citizens never see a bill or fork over a copayment for anything other than dentistry, optometry and prescription drugs. While health care costs are rising in Canada, the country currently spends less than the United States In the contentious debate about health care reform, the U.S. system is often compared to other systems around the world. Some are concerned that the U.S. spends twice as much per person, while others are willing to pay that price to have choice of providers and shorter waiting times. Myths abound about what health care is actually like in other countries, so here is the recap of the healthcare system around the world.