Olive View-UCLA Medical Center  The U.S. has one of the lowest
shares of out-of-pocket fees in the world: 25.1% of the total
private health expenditure, compared with 62% in the Britain and
84.8% in Singapore. Above: Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in
Sylmar (Los Angeles Times)  When it comes to healthcare,
Americans are not getting a lot of value for their money. The
United States spends 17.6% of its gross domestic product, nearly
twice the average of the nations in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. But life expectancy in the
United States in 2010, at 78.7 years, is below the OECD average
of 79.8 years. The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than in
most developed countries — it is higher than the rates in
Greece, Hungary and Slovakia.  Can Americans get the same — or
better — health outcomes for less money? They almost certainly
can, but it is not clear that they will. European nations limit
the growth of healthcare spending through technocratic controls.
Usually, a central governm