Have a colonoscopy performed in some parts of the U.S., and it’ll cost you and your health plan as much as $9,000 or more, versus a few hundred dollars in most of the rest of the developed world, even with countries whose healthcare systems are on par with ours in terms of quality rankings and outcomes. The average hip replacement costs $40,364 here, compared with $7,731 in Spain. An M.R.I. scan in the U.S. runs $1,121, vs. $319 in the Netherlands. And a hospital stay will cost “about triple those in other developed countries, even though they last no longer.”

Ahold has appointed the former head of one of its European supermarket chains to an executive position in its U.S. division.