LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Commonwealth Fund, a research institution reports that the United States spent $7,960 per capita on health care in 2009, the most of 13 industrialized nations. That's almost three times the amount spent in Japan, which has the lowest expenses of the countries reviewed.

In addition, Americans pay the highest prices for physician visits, hospital treatments and prescription drugs and get expensive diagnostic tests like MRIs at the higher-than-average rate.

More Americans are obese despite the nation's population being younger than all the other countries but New Zealand and is the least likely to smoke cigarettes than people anywhere but Sweden, according to the report.

The reasons behind this are many, such as escalating prices for health care, the high use of potentially wasteful, inefficient and unnecessary medical services are just two. In addition, the growing ranks of the uninsured and the fiscal burdens of Medicare and Medicaid all translate to heavy burdens. The astronomical costs lead many Americans, even those with health insurance, to go without care they need.

"This high spending cannot be attributed to higher income, an older population or greater supply or utilization of hospitals and doctors. Instead, the findings suggest the higher spending is more likely due to higher prices and perhaps more readily accessible technology and greater obesity." As authored by David Squires, a senior research associate at the Commonwealth Fund the reports says prices also vary widely among health care providers, according to the report.

"Health care quality in the U.S. varies and is not notably superior to the far less expensive systems in the other study countries," the report says. As an example, although the U.S. has the best survival rate for breast cancer patients and shares the lead on colorectal cancer survival with Norway, survival among cervical cancer patients is the middle of the pack.

© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.