In the article I linked to (sorry it wasn't there when you replied), it showed in that Health Care spending as a proportion to GDP France is not that far ahead of the US (16% Vs. 11%). They have all of the problems we have, they have just tweaked their laws to allow for (according to the author of the original article) prescriptions without a doctors visit.

France doesn't solve the cost problem, they just spend their tax dollars on healthcare instead of Defense, Social Security, and Medicare.

Oh, and they have the MHRA - Which is equiv to FDA