Lessons from European health systems

Today's column from Trudy Rubin is great:

One of the most bewildering aspects of the current health-care debate is the failure to learn key lessons from health systems abroad.

Conservative talk show hosts decry the alleged evils of "socialized medicine" in countries with universal health coverage; they warn grimly of rationed health care. Yet there's nary a peep from Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck - let alone Congress - about countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, or Japan, where coverage is universal, affordable, and top quality, and patients see private doctors with little or no waiting.

And, oh yes, their health costs are a fraction of our bloated numbers: The French spend 10 percent of GDP on health care, the Germans 11 percent, and they cover every citizen. We spend a whopping 17 percent and leave tens of millions of Americans uninsured.