Compared To US

Israel has one of the world's best health care systems. It covers almost 95 % of its population of Jews and non-Jews. Compared to this the US too has a state of the art medical system, however, it fails to cover most of its citizens with health care insurances. Only one in every six Americans is covered under a health care insurance plan.

The US is one of the highest spenders in the world on health care. It spent a mind boggling $2.26 trillion on health care in 2007. This accounts to almost 16% of the GDP and works out to $7400 per American citizen. In comparison, the Israeli government spent only 8 % of its GDP which works out to about $ 2000 per Israeli citizen.

The American health care is a very competitive market; many private organizations are competing with the government hospitals. The health care system is owned by the government but most of the health care system runs with the help of private institutions. The government doesn't have a system of government run medical facilities that caters to the general public.

In contrast, the Israeli health care system is run by the government with the assistance of four Health Maintenance Organizations. Each Israeli citizen must register and become a member of one of these organizations. The competition only exists between these four Health Maintenance Organizations who try to attract citizens with better medical benefits. But the Ministry of Health also sets a guideline each year for these organizations by providing a list of medical treatments and services that each has to provide to its members. This makes it possible to keep all four organizations at the same level and providing similar benefits to their members. Mostly people tend to change their membership based on the availability of a certain organization in their location.

The number of physicians available in the US is fairly high due to the migration of several physicians from around the globe for better paying jobs and better lifestyles. There are about 152 physicians in the US per 100,000 US citizens.

Similarly, the physician to population ratio is very high in Israel. This is because of the governments planning and also because of the mass migration of physicians from the Soviet Union during the early nineties, which created a surplus of physicians in Israel. There are about 205 physicians in Israel per 100,000 Israeli citizens.

The technology utilized by American hospitals is by far the best in the world. Many people from around the globe and even from Israel come to the US for special surgeries and transplantation which are unavailable anywhere else. The US funds its medical research and developmental centers generously, which is also supported and funded by private organizations, helping US maintain the most advanced technology in medical products for the health care market.

Israel too has sophisticated medical technology. It is a major exporter of advanced micro computers and is well-known for laser surgical instruments. A close connection between the research centers and the industry has led to the advancement of the Israeli medical system.