Comparisons between the health care system in the United States and the systems of other industrialized countries reveal striking differences in spending, availability and use of services, and health outcomes. This project will produce the 11th paper in a series of annual analyses of key health data for the 30 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The authors will provide an update of overall trends in health systems' performance, emphasizing those measures that reflect the core dimensions of a high performance health care system. Financing strategies, health insurance coverage, and the impact of various approaches to the public–private mix will be examined as a secondary theme. Findings will be presented at the Fund's 2008 International Symposium on Health Care Policy and submitted to the journal Health Affairs for Web publication. A chartpack containing core components of the OECD database, now available on the Fund's Web site, will be updated as a resource for journalists, policymakers, and researchers.