[SHARE] Malaysia Ranked Third Best Among The Top 5 Health Care Countries In The World
InternationalLiving.com’s annual Global Retirement Index reports that France, Uruguay and Malaysia provide the best and most affordable health care in the world.
By Sadho Ram — 23 Feb 2014, 03:17 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
InternationalLiving.com’s just-released annual Global Retirement Index ranks the best countries in the world for health care
The Health Care category in the Index considers the cost of care and the quality.
Also considered are the number of people per doctor, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, the percentage of the population with access to safe water, the infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public-health expenditure as a percentage of a country’s GDP.
France, where many French health-care professionals in major cities speak English, comes in first in this category as the best country in the world for health care
Many French health-care professionals in major cities speak English, and France has both a public health-care system and private-sector health care. The public health-care system is available to those who pay, or used to pay, into France’s Social Security system.
This system offers excellent benefits, paying the bulk of the cost for a range of medical services that includes doctor’s visits, hospital stays and prescription medications.
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The country also comes first in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014. Despite their meat-and cream-rich diet augmented by alcohol and cigarettes, the French have been living much longer in recent years. Life expectancy now averages 85 years for women and 78 for men.
Uruguay comes in second in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014
The private health care industry in Uruguay consists of a number of independently operated health-care organizations. They vary in size from a single clinic to networks of hospitals and clinics.
“The most popular private health-care option in Uruguay is a ‘hospital plan,’ whereby you make monthly payments directly to an individual hospital or network that provides your care; everything from routine check ups to major surgery. The cost is extremely low compared to private health-care options in the U.S.”
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InternationalLiving.com’s Uruguay correspondent, David Hammond, who has lived in the country for seven years, says: “My personal experience with health care in Uruguay has been positive. The cost is a fraction of what I paid for private coverage in the U.S.”
Malaysia, where medical expertise is equal to or better than that in most Western countries, as noted by the survey, placed third in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014
Malaysia has gained fame as a medical-tourism destination because its health care is among the world’s best—and cheapest.
“At this time, foreigners cannot access the public health-care system here, but the low cost of health care and the range of health-insurance options, means that paying for health care is no hardship,” says InternationalLiving.com’s Asia correspondent, Keith Hockton.
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“Health care costs are so low that you can pay out of pocket for many standard procedures. A regular doctor’s visit costs $16 (RM52.71) and a dental check-up costs $9(RM29.65),” he says.
Costa Rica comes in fourth in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014
Costa Rica’s excellent and affordable health care is largely the result of government investment in the health sector, plus an atmosphere of political stability. By almost any standard, Costa Rica has some of the best health care in Latin America.
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Not only that, but the country’s public and private health systems are constantly being upgraded—new hospitals, new equipment, and improvements in staff training.
Mexico comes in fifth in the health care category of the InternationalLiving.com annual Global Retirement Index 2014
Given the galloping rise in health care costs in the U.S. and elsewhere, Mexico’s affordable and top-notch health care is a huge benefit to living there. Pretty much across the board, health care in Mexico costs a quarter to a half of what you would pay in the U.S.
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Medical insurance with Mexico’s national health care service costs less than $300 a year; private insurance will cost more, depending on age and pre-existing conditions—but still a fraction of what you’d pay in the U.S. for similar coverage.