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What Govts Spend On Health Care

Political quibbling over Barack Obama’s health care law shut down the US government for a fortnight. We look at how the American health care system fares against others

Kathakali Chanda
Published: Nov 6, 2013 07:36:16 AM IST
Updated: Oct 30, 2013 05:43:15 PM IST

What Govts Spend On Health Care
 

  • 54% of US health spending is private, out of which insurance spend accounts for 59%, one of the highest in the world.
  • With 95% of its total GDP spend on health care, Cuba has the highest government health spending globally. It also logs 67 physicians per 10,000 people, the most in the world.
  • Oil-rich Qatar spends the least on health care, 1.9% of its GDP, next only to 1.6% of South Sudan, the youngest nation.
  • At 60%, India has one of the highest out-of-pocket health care expenditures. Besides, the country has only 6.49 doctors per 10,000 people, lower than even Pakistan, which spends just 2.5% of its GDP on health care.

(This story appears in the 15 November, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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  • Chetan

    India is said to have low doctor: patient ratio. But the distribution is not the same across the states. For example, the state of Bihar has about four teaching hospitals where as in Bangalore, capital city of Karnataka, there are about seven teaching hospitals(institutions). Overall the density of doctors and healthcare facilities is better in southern states. I am searching(sic!) but have not yet found the info graphic illustrating the healthcare differences of various states and places within India. This would really change the way state of healthcare in India is perceived.

    on Nov 7, 2013
    • Umesh

      Chetan, Here, the discussion is about the average doctor:patient ration in the whole country. the point which you are talking about goes to every country, even for developed. you can\'t compared the doctor:patient ration of Los Angeles with that of any other territory in US.

      on Aug 23, 2014