Findings of a Commonwealth Fund International Survey, released today, have exposed some surprising figures and claimed that the majority of people living with chronic health conditions or other severe illnesses are forced to suffer maximum complications regarding payment of their medical bills. In addition, the report authors have tagged higher cost as a possible reason to accelerate the figure as compared to other countries including UK, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.

Before suggesting the findings, the experts have more than 18,000 severely ill people from not less than 11 countries across the globe and observed that patients with the care of a medical home are more likely to rate their care excellent as compared to counterpart having no or very little access to a medical home. Besides this, patients receiving services from a Medical Home were also observed to enjoy a healthier relationship with their respective physicians.

The findings have also pinpointed Switzerland and the United Kingdom for reflecting maximum patients with a Medical Home. During the survey, around 75% British as well as Swiss respondents have confessed to have a Medical Home whereas just 33% to 65% people have notified to have a Medical Home in other surveyed countries.

Besides this, the British and Swiss health care system has also received appreciation for offering the same day or next-day appointment in order to provide best and immediate after-hours care to sufferers. Natives of these two countries were also observed with a minimum risk of experiencing poorly coordinated care.

"We found that to varying degrees in all countries, chronically ill or sicker patients encounter failures of providers to communicate with each other or coordinate care”, commented the Senior Vice President of Commonwealth Fund, Cathy Schoen, who led the study.