Fifteen of XShares‘ line of HealthShares ETFs will close down, and their last trading day will be Sept. 19.

XShares President Jeff Feldman tells us it’s a simple matter of marketplace demand. “We were not generating assets in several of them, and they’re expensive to keep open.”

Closing the funds doesn’t mean that XShares didn’t believe in the products, but an acknowledgement that perhaps timing is everything. “We still believe our structure was right,” Feldman says, “and our timing was bad. So we decided to shutter some of them.”

When an ETF announces a closing, it follows an orderly process and investors are given plenty of notice before it actually takes place. Thirty-seven ETFs have closed this year, and we know that closing announcements tend to bring out the worriers: is the ETF industry in trouble? Are they a passing fad? But every industry has its successes and failures, and not every product to land in the marketplace can be a hit.

The entire line won’t close: four funds the marketplace seems to like will remain open. Meanwhile, Feldman says, they’ll revisit the old funds from time to time to see if they deserve another shot in the future.

The remaining funds will be:

• HealthShares Cancer (HHK)
  
• HealthShares European Drugs (HRJ)
  
• HealthShares Diagnostics (HHD)
• HealthShares Enabling Technologies (HHV)

HealthShares Enabling Technologies, however, is going to be renamed the Drug Discovery Tools Fund, and keep the same ticker symbol. A new fund will be joining the fold, as well: the HealthShares Asian Health, but it hasn’t begun trading.

Lower expense ratios for the remaining funds will be put in place, effective Oct. 1: for the cancer, diagnostic and drug discovery ETFs, the new expenses will be 0.60%, down from 0.75%. The European drugs will be 0.72%, down from 0.95%. The Asian health fund will be 0.95%. The four remaining funds will also get revamped benchmarks and number of constituents they’ll track, according to Murray Coleman for Index Universe.

The funds closing are:

• HealthShares Autoimmune-Inflammation (HHA)
• HealthShares Cardio Devices (HHE)
• HealthShares Cardiology (HRD)
• HealthShares Composite (HHQ)
• HealthShares Dermatology & Wound Care (HRW)
• HealthShares Emerging Cancer (HHJ)
• HealthShares European Medical Products & Devices (HHT)
• HealthShares GI/Gender Health (HHU)
• HealthShares Infectious Disease (HHG)
• HealthShares Metabolic-Endocrine Disorders (HHM)
• HealthShares Neuroscience (HHN)
• HealthShares Opthalmology (HHZ)
• HealthShares Orthopedic Repair (HHP)
• HealthShares Patient Care Services (HHB)
• HealthShares Respiratory/Pulmonary (HHR)

In 2000, the World Health Organization statistically ranked the world’s health care systems, and of 191 countries, France came in first and the United States came in 37th. Factors considered were the number of years people lived in good health, and whether everyone had access to good health care.

A second study was undertaken by the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine which measured “amenable mortality” that measure preventable deaths due to quality of health care, and of 19 industrialized countries, France came in first and the United States came in last.

The first idea that Americans have to get their minds past is that universal health care means giving up choices. The French have a universal health care system, paid for through taxes, and still have choices upon choices regarding doctors and medicine, reports Joseph Shapiro for NPR.

The French are protected by the national insurance program that pays 70% of most bills, and is funded by payroll and income taxes. Government regulation is mandatory and helps keep costs down, such as hospital fees. In France, there are no uninsured, and there are no deductibles; the sicker you are , the more coverage you get; and new mothers are paid an allowance.

Yet France faces rising health care costs and is trying its hardest to keep them under control. Will the United States follow the lead of France and other European countries? If so, our domestic health care ETFs could benefit:

• iShares Dow Jones US Health Care Sector Fund (IYH), down 10.5% year-to-date
• Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV), down 11.7% year-to-date
• HealthShares Patient Care Services (HHB), down 18% year-to-date