In his critique of single-payer health systems, Jeff Jacoby reports that, in a Canadian study, Canada rates lower than the United States in the waiting time to see a health care practitioner (“Canadians are waiting — and waiting — to see the doctor,’’ Dec. 20). What Jacoby is not telling his readers is that in combined, overall aspects such as affordability, successful outcomes, preventive care, and accessibility, in most surveys the United States does not make it to the list of the top 16 nations. Starting with the best: Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hong Kong, Australia, Israel, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, France, Qatar, and Canada.

These nations all have some form of single-payer national health care. Indeed, Canada comes in last in this list of best health care systems. But it’s a list that we are not even on.

Harry Bartnick

Beverly