Signature AssignmentCompared to other developed countries, the United States devotes a greater share of its gross domestic product (GDP) to health care spending than any other country. In 2009, the United States spent 16% of its GDP on the health care sector. This is almost double the amount spent by other OECD countries (an average of 8.7%) and is 40% higher than the next highest country, France, which spent 11.2% of its GDP to health spending. If we look at these costs at the individual level, the United States spent $7,538 per capita (per person) on health care. This is more than double the OECD median spending of $2,995. Again, the following countries spent considerably less than the United States, with Norway and Switzerland spending less than two-thirds the amount of the United States ($5,003 for Norway and $4,627 for Switzerland). Among all but two of the twelve other OECD countries, per capita spending was less than fifty percent of that of the United States. In New Zealand, the per capita amount was almost a third of that in the United States, at $2,683 (Squires, 2011). The expense comparison itself demonstrates an environment in which growth is occurring in what should be a non-growth oriented industry. As health care costs rise, investment and growth in other areas will continue to stagnate. A parallel and troubling aspect of the health care environment is that alongside rising costs, there is a significant lack of coverage for millions of Americans. The United States not only leads OECD countries in spending per person, but it also leads other countries in terms of citizens lacking basic health care coverage (Blank , 2012). The United States has a divided health care coverage system. Based on 2008 statistics, a majority of Americans, 60 percent...... middle of paper ......ions/Issue%20Brief/2011/Jul/1532_Squires_US_hlt_sys_comparison_12_nations_intl_brief_v2.pdfThe Commonwealth Fund. (2010, June). International health system profiles: Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Retrieved from Commonwealth Fund: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund%20Report/2010/Jun/1417_Squires_Intl_Profiles_622.pdfVanderbilt, A., Isringhausen, K., VanderWielen, L., Wright , M., Slashcheva, L. and Madden, M. (2013). Health disparities among highly vulnerable populations in the United States: a call to action for medical and oral health care. Medical Education Online, 18. doi:10.3402/meo.v18i0.20644Walsh, C. (2010). The big debate: New Zealand and the world-leading health system? Nursing in New Zealand, 16(9), 20-21.