Top 10 Countries With The Best Healthcare System and Why

Best Health Care System. Photo: KnowInsiders

Countries around the world apply different approaches to provide public healthcare. Some rely on the government support, as in a single-payer approach. Other nations depend on private insurers and a third group of countries, such as the United States, have a mixture of both. The quality and efficiency of a country’s healthcare system can have a massive impact on its citizens’ quality of life.

Top 10 Countries with Best Health Care System: With the onset of the corona pandemic, all the governments in the world made concentrated efforts in strengthening and improving their country's health system. However, health facilities were inadequate, and many could not avail benefit of the health facilities during the pandemic. Every country has a different health care infrastructure and different health care facilities.

What Is Healthcare?

Healthcare can be understood as the preservation and improvement of health through the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries, diseases, and any other physical or mental impairment. It includes different kinds of medical attention (physical therapy, nursing, psychology, among others) and the method by which it´s provided varies depending on the country, even municipality.

There are several economic and social elements that have a significant impact on any given healthcare system and this is largely due to the goals generally set for health systems. Here, we´ll mention three essential goals:

Ensure that the population will access the health services provided by certified professionals and qualified attention.

Achieve the right level of responsiveness of health assistance to the real expectations of the population. This means investing in the structural and institutional dimensions of the health system.

The fairness and equity on the delivery of healthcare in a way that poor households don’t carry with a higher expense than they can afford.

Now, these are not the only factors that need to be considered to evaluate the right functioning of a healthcare system. The World Health Organization states that a high-quality healthcare system must also include well-maintained facilities, provide reliable information to patients, administrative efficiency, and, fundamentally, a steady financing mechanism.

So far, the importance of an efficient healthcare system has become clear. The lack of quality on it’s supply can bring unfavorable consequences whereas counting with a well-developed health system can protect a population’s quality of life and even life expectancy. And this is why health systems tend to be one of the biggest concerns for policymakers. Countries have been introducing reforms in the health sector so as to improve their performance.

Types of Healthcare

Countries around the globe take vastly different approaches to providing healthcare to their population. Many developed countries have universal government-funded healthcare (also known as single-payer healthcare).

In this system, healthcare is available to all citizens regardless of their income or employment status. This system is used by countries such as Australia, Canada, Norway, Singapore and the UK.

Another popular option is to use a universal public insurance system where the government usually withholds part of workers’ wages which goes towards healthcare insurance. This system is used by China, France, Japan and South Korea among others.

Several nations, including the Netherlands and Switzerland, use a universal private health insurance system. Low-income citizens who cannot afford insurance are then subsidised by the government.

The World Health Organization’s last global report ranked these as 10 most advanced countries in medicine with best healthcare in the world:

List of 10 countries have the best healthcare system

1. France

2. Germany

3. Singapore

4. The UK

5. Australia

6. Switzerland

7. The United Arab Emirates

8. The Netherlands

9. Japan

10. Luxembourg

Source: World Health Organization, Measuring Overall Health System Performance for 191 Countries

*****

Which countries have the best healthcare system and why?

1. France

Photo: Our House Families

The French healthcare system is characterised by universal coverage and government organisation. France has one of the best healthcare in the world. Statutory health insurance (SHI) was expanded to cover every citizen in 2000. Out-of-pocket payments are common for doctor’s appointments, but the government usually refunds most fees.

Ranked top by the World Health Organization’s mammoth study, France also scores well for health outcomes. This gives the European nation an edge for advancement as well as accessibility. Having some of the highest quality medical care in the world helps to give France the lowest levels of cardiovascular mortality in the OEDC.

2. Germany

Photo: WashingtonKing.com

The Euro Health Consumer Index notes that the healthcare system in Germany is one of the most consumer-oriented systems in the EU. All workers in Germany contribute about 8 percent of their gross earnings to a non-profit insurance which is also known as a sickness fund.

There are about 130 such sickness funds that a person can choose from. Now the employer matches this contribution towards the fund. The funds extend healthcare benefits and cannot refuse membership. Medical services in the country are superlative. The country’s per capita health spends are about USD 5,551.

3. Singapore

Photo:Planet Lean

Singapore has a worldwide effective and comprehensive medical infrastructure. The health sector of Singapore is supervised by the Singapore Government’s Ministry of Health. It is primarily a form of publicly financed health insurance and is implemented by the government, alongside a major private healthcare industry, including Medisave, Medishield Life, and Medifund. In comparison, health costs are financed by direct government grants, obligatory full savings, universal health benefits, and risk-sharing.

Singapore’s public health system is run by the government, with 32.1% of all costs charged for Healthcare out of budget. The private medical industry is also high. The nation has continued to monitor coronavirus spread by tracking and testing contacts and amid recent cases.

4. The UK

Photo: Economy Watch

UK is among those countries, where the health care system is almost entirely taken care of by the government. Most people here take advantage of government health facilities that are fully paid for by the government.

The National Health Service (NHS), the public health services in the United Kingdom provides its citizens comprehensive and universal health care free of cost. Optical and dental treatments are not covered by the NHS, though. The average UK citizen has a life expectancy of about 81 years. The country is home to exceptional medical services and professionals.

5. Australia

Photo: RegDesk

Australia’s healthcare system has two main parts: the public health system, and the private health system. Since 1984, Medicare has been the Commonwealth Government’s universal health insurance scheme. This provides Australian residents with free treatment in public hospitals.

The Commonwealth Fund’s 2017 study gives Australia the second-highest health system performance score – these measure care process, access, efficiency, equity and health outcomes.

Australia comes top for health outcomes, in fact. The universal Medicare system has covered the cost of public hospital stays and some other services since 1986, but outside of hospital, co-payments are common. Still, countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany have more equitable healthcare than Australia, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

What Is Digital Healthcare: Top Trends In The Future? What is digital healthcare, why is it important and how does it change the healthcare system in the future?

6. Switzerland

Photo: European Moving

Switzerland comes top of the Euro Health Consumer Index 2018, and it’s firmly above the eleven-country average in the Commonwealth Fund’s list too. There are no free, state-run services here – instead, universal healthcare is achieved by mandatory private health insurance and some government involvement.

In Switzerland, patients often find they’re free to choose their own doctor and specialists are easy to come by – but this comes at a cost, since healthcare expenditure is the highest in Europe.

7. The United Arab Emirates

Photo: Step Feed

The United Arab Emirates' health care system is also among the ten best health care systems in the world. Health care facilities are provided by the government here. At the same time, the private sector is also growing fast in the health care field.

The United Arab Emirates’ medical system fell into the global spotlight due to the country’s fast COVID-19 vaccine rollout in early 2021. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that the kingdom enjoys some of the best healthcare in the world and best medical care in the Middle East and Asia.

Healthcare is comprehensive for Emiratis and mostly government-funded, but the private sector is growing rapidly too. State-of-the-art hospitals and clinics are continually popping up, especially in the Dubai region. Learn more about moving to and living in Dubai in 2021.

8. The Netherlands

Photo: Expatica

The Dutch medical care system is a strong performer on the world stage – the Commonwealth Fund has ranked The Netherlands third among wealthy countries, and it came second in the Euro Health Consumer Index 2017.

All adults are required to purchase basic insurance – and can be fined if they don’t. Employer payments and taxes also help to finance healthcare in the Netherlands. The country is a strong performer in mental health – many GP practices employ primary care psychologists. In our recent research study, we asked over 1,100 expats worldwide about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their mental health. 38% felt the quality of their mental health has declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also only 10% of respondents said they felt “confident” about the professional mental health resources available in the country where they live and work.

9. Japan

Photo: LaingBuisson Newsundation

According to the World Bank, Japan has 84 years of worldwide life expectancy and one of the world’s greatest health services providers. The government forces every Japanese resident to carry out medical insurance. Overall, the resident pays out-of-pocket just 12.8 percent of medical costs. In Japan, life expectancy and stable life expectancy are both the longest, in both men and women, as recorded in WHO reports.

Japan’s health care system delivers services, including screening, maternity care, and controlling infectious diseases, which take charge of 30% of the costs and the remaining 70% by the government. Here Patients are eligible and cannot be refused to choose doctors or institutions of their choosing. Hospitals must be operated under the statute as non-profit institutions and administered by doctors.

10. Luxembourg

Photo: Luxembourg Times

Along with other innovative nations such as the USA, Luxembourg is often mentioned in lists of the most medically advanced countries. It’s a country that’s home to a large health technology sector that, together with its tech-literate population, makes eHealth development a priority.

Luxembourg comes 16th place in the World Health Organization’s efficiency rankings and 7th in the Euro Health Consumer Index 2018. It’s also one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, which helps – 5.44% of all employees’ gross income is deducted for healthcare.

Want to know more about how healthcare works for expats in these places? Explore our medical network to find providers.

Healthcare during pademic The planet has seen near-universal progress in health over the past decade, with all but 12 countries seeing an improvement during that time. In particular, expansions in immunisation programmes have resulted in a greater proportion of the global population being inoculated against life-threatening diseases. This, combined with antenatal care now covering over 90% of women across the globe, has led to the improvement observed in preventative care. “There is never a good time for a global health crisis, but if there has to be one, the progress that has been made over the last decade provides emerging nations with a better context in which to tackle it.” Baroness Philippa Stroud, CEO of the Legatum Institute However, these improvements came under threat as the health of many nations were put under considerable strain due to the pandemic. Initially, a particular concern was how nations with poorer healthcare systems would cope with the virus. However, we now know that the virus disproportionately affects the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. This demographic is generally more commonly found in more developed countries. For example, the median age in Italy is 47.3, whereas the median age across Africa is around 20. Similarly, the obesity rate in the USA stands atover 40%, compared to less than 10% in Africa. As such, it is generally the health systems of more developed nations that have been in greater danger of being overwhelmed.

What countries have the best healthcare in the world?

(Ranking by CEO World Magazine)

CEOWorld Magazine's Health Care Index "is a statistical analysis of the overall quality of the health care system, including health care infrastructure; health care professionals (doctors, nursing staff, and other health workers) competencies; cost (USD p.a.per capita); quality medicine availability, and government readiness."

Each country is given a score for each of the above factors and then a total score out of 100.

According to this index, the ten countries with the best health care in 2021 are:

South Korea

Taiwan

Denmark

Austria

Japan

Australia

France

Spain

Belgium

United Kingdom

Best Healthcare in the World 2021

(LPI = Legatum Prosperity Index)

Country	LPI 2020 Ranking	LPI 2019 Ranking	CEO World Ranking	2021 Population
Denmark	1	2	3	5,813,298
Norway	2	1	15	5,465,630
Switzerland	3	3	18	8,715,494
Sweden	4	4	28	10,160,169
Finland	5	5	12	5,548,360
Netherlands	6	6	11	17,173,099
New Zealand	7	7	16	4,860,643
Germany	8	8	17	83,900,473
Luxembourg	9	9	634,814
Austria	10	12	4	9,043,070
Iceland	11	14	41	343,353
Ireland	12	11	80	4,982,907
United Kingdom	13	10	10	68,207,116
Canada	14	13	23	38,067,903
Singapore	15	16	24	5,896,686
Australia	16	17	6	25,788,215
Hong Kong	17	15	36	7,552,810
United States	18	18	30	332,915,073
Japan	19	19	5	126,050,804
Taiwan	20	22	2	23,855,010
Estonia	21	21	32	1,325,185
France	22	20	7	65,426,179
Belgium	23	23	9	11,632,326
Spain	24	25	8	46,745,216
Malta	25	24	442,784
Slovenia	26	27	47	2,078,724
Portugal	27	26	22	10,167,925
South Korea	28	29	1	51,305,186
Israel	30	31	21	8,789,774
Italy	31	30	37	60,367,477
Latvia	32	32	48	1,866,942
Cyprus	33	33	76	1,215,584
Lithuania	34	34	31	2,689,862
Slovakia	35	35	54	5,460,721
Poland	36	36	51	37,797,005
Chile	37	37	44	19,212,361
Costa Rica	38	38	50	5,139,052
Uruguay	39	39	39	3,485,151
Malaysia	40	42	34	32,776,194
Greece	41	41	26	10,370,744
United Arab Emirates	42	40	20	9,991,089
Croatia	43	43	42	4,081,651
Mauritius	44	45	1,273,433
Qatar	45	44	33	2,930,528
Hungary	46	46	49	9,634,164
Romania	47	47	69	19,127,774
Bulgaria	48	49	67	6,896,663
Panama	49	48	56	4,381,579
Montenegro	50	51	628,053
Seychelles	51	50	98,908
Serbia	52	52	77	8,697,550
Georgia	53	53	79	3,979,765
China	54	54	46	1,444,216,107
Armenia	55	63	2,968,127
Bahrain	56	58	1,748,296
Indonesia	57	61	52	276,361,783
Kuwait	58	60	71	4,328,550
North Macedonia	59	55	2,082,658
Trinidad And Tobago	60	59	1,403,375
Peru	61	57	62	33,359,418
Kazakhstan	62	66	82	18,994,962
Argentina	63	56	27	45,605,826
Thailand	64	65	13	69,950,850
Jamaica	65	67	2,973,463
Oman	66	62	5,223,375
Albania	67	64	74	2,872,933
Mexico	68	68	29	130,262,216
Belarus	69	70	57	9,442,862
Brazil	70	69	63	213,993,437
Saudi Arabia	71	72	55	35,340,683
Dominican Republic	72	76	72	10,953,703
Vietnam	73	81	66	98,168,833
Colombia	74	71	35	51,265,844
Russia	76	75	58	145,912,025
Bosnia And Herzegovina	77	73	3,263,466
Azerbaijan	78	91	86	10,223,342
Paraguay	79	78	7,219,638
Moldova	80	83	4,024,019
Suriname	81	79	591,800
Botswana	82	80	2,397,241
Philippines	83	82	38	111,046,913
Sri Lanka	84	77	40	21,497,310
Mongolia	85	88	3,329,289
Jordan	86	86	43	10,269,021
South Africa	87	84	53	60,041,994
Namibia	88	87	2,587,344
Ecuador	89	85	25	17,888,475
Kyrgyzstan	90	89	6,628,356
Guyana	91	90	790,326
Ukraine	92	96	81	43,466,819
El Salvador	93	100	6,518,499
Turkey	94	92	65	85,042,738
Belize	95	93	404,914
Morocco	96	94	83	37,344,795
Uzbekistan	97	102	33,935,763
Tunisia	99	95	59	11,935,766
Ghana	100	97	31,732,129
India	101	98	19	1,393,409,038
Guatemala	102	99	18,249,860
Cuba	103	105	11,317,505
Rwanda	104	103	13,276,513
Lebanon	105	104	45	6,769,146
Bolivia	106	106	11,832,940
Honduras	107	107	10,062,991
Algeria	108	108	68	44,616,624
Turkmenistan	109	113	6,117,924
Senegal	110	111	17,196,301
Nicaragua	111	109	6,702,385
Tajikistan	112	110	9,749,627
Kenya	113	112	70	54,985,698
Nepal	114	114	61	29,674,920
Laos	115	115	7,379,358
Gambia	116	117	2,486,945
Tanzania	117	121	61,498,437
Cambodia	118	120	16,946,438
Djibouti	119	122	1,002,187
Iran	120	119	78	85,028,759
Egypt	121	124	84	104,258,327
Gabon	122	116	2,278,825
Zambia	123	118	18,920,651
Ivory Coast	124	129	27,053,629
Bangladesh	125	123	85	166,303,498
Benin	126	128	12,451,040
Myanmar	127	127	54,806,012
Comoros	128	125	888,451
Papua New Guinea	129	126	9,119,010
Lesotho	130	130	2,159,079
Equatorial Guinea	131	132	1,449,896
Malawi	132	131	19,647,684
Uganda	133	134	47,123,531
Eswatini	134	133	1,172,362
Burkina Faso	135	135	21,497,096
Madagascar	136	138	28,427,328
Iraq	137	136	87	41,179,350
Pakistan	138	139	88	225,199,937
Guinea	139	143	13,497,244
Togo	140	140	8,478,250
Liberia	141	137	5,180,203
Mozambique	142	142	32,163,047
Zimbabwe	143	141	15,092,171
Nigeria	144	146	73	211,400,708
Sierra Leone	145	144	8,141,343
Venezuela	146	145	89	28,704,954
Guinea Bissau	147	147	2,015,494
Mali	148	150	20,855,735
Libya	149	148	6,958,532
Ethiopia	150	149	117,876,227
Cameroon	151	152	27,224,265
Republic of the Congo	152	153	5,657,013
Niger	153	151	25,130,817
Mauritania	154	156	4,775,119
Haiti	155	154	11,541,685
Angola	156	155	33,933,610
Burundi	157	158	12,255,433
Syria	158	157	18,275,702
Eritrea	160	160	3,601,467
DR Congo	161	162	92,377,993
Afghanistan	162	163	39,835,428
Somalia	163	161	16,359,504
Chad	164	164	16,914,985
Yemen	165	166	30,490,640
Central African Republic	166	165	4,919,981
South Sudan	167	167	11,381,378

What Country Has The Best Healthcare System In Europe

Europe has 5 of the top 10 countries ranked by their healthcare systems. The best healthcare systems in Europe are offered by France, Italy, Malta, Spain, and Austria. Most other countries in Europe have excellent health care for their citizens. The biggest factors in driving their top rankings are affordability and access. The systems are typically heavily subsidized by the government and, as a result, are very affordable. At the same time, there are often long wait times and restrictions limiting choice in these countries – so none of these systems are perfect.

Which States in the US Have the Best Healthcare

The Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 Scorecard on State Health System Performance reveals that most states are losing ground on key measures related to life expectancy as premature deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drug overdose continue to increase.

Top 5 states with the best healthcare systems in the USA

Hawaii

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Iowa

Connecticut

Top 5 US states that have the worst-rated healthcare systems

West Virginia

Missouri

Nevada

Oklahoma

Mississippi

10 Countries With The Best Education In The World And Why Which countries have the best education system and Why do these countries have the best education systems?

Top 10 Countries With Most Romantic Men In The World What is the best place to look for your ideal man? These 20 countries have the most romantic men in the world. Check it out!

Top 10 Most Beautiful Countries In The World Тhе wоrld іѕ а bеаutіful рlасе ѕо thеу ѕау. Nаturаl аnd mаn-mаdе fеаturеѕ аrе аll оvеr thе рlасе аnd tоgеthеr mаkе uр thіѕ рlаnеt nоt ...