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Health care system in the USA
Health care system in the USA
World health care systems comparison
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Compare and contrast healthcare in the United States and United Kingdom
In the contemporary world, America is one of the greatest countries. From the polio vaccine to Coca Cola, United States is mother to many inventions. As Americans, we enjoy higher quality living standards than most other parts of the world. This pleasure-oriented lifestyle makes a lot of other nations envious of us. And with the envy comes antipathy. For the time it has existed, the American healthcare system has been a subject of scrutiny and debate.
The United States health care system ranks 37th in the world. Statistically, it’s bizarre how United States is amongst one of the most advanced nations in the world and the fact that it spends more on its healthcare than any other country, yet its standards are incomparable to other European nations. Unlike most countries, America doesn’t have universal coverage for health care. This means that it is the responsibility of an average American to obtain health insurance either through private insurance companies or through their employer. Under this system, there is a notion of a certain premium due at regular intervals of time but the insured may need to “co-pay” or pay a certain deductible for their treatment before their insurance takes care of the rest.
American health care system does cater to all its citizens. These are publicly funded. Medicare is one of the most important schemes in the healthcare scene of United States. It supports the senior citizens. It is funded by a special payroll tax under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Medicaid, for low-income earners, is administered by the individual states; and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-Chip) is intended to provide insurance co...
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Zablit, Jocelyne. “US Health System Ranks Last Compared to Other Countries.” Commondreams.org. 15 May 2007. 13 October 2009. < http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/15/1198>.
“Most Republicans Think the U.S. Health Care System is the Best in the World. Democrats Disagree.” HARVARD School of Public Health. 20 March 2008. Harvard School. 13 October 2009. < http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2008-releases/republicans-democrats-disagree-us-health-care-system.html>.
Harrell, Eben. “Is Britain’s Health-Care System Really That Bad?” Time. August 18 2009. 13 October 2009. < http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1916570,00.html>.
“The World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health system.” Photius Coutsoukis. 29 February 2007. 13 October 2009. < http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html>.
Pithoven, A. A. (2009). Why U.S. health care expenditure and ranking on health care indicators are so different from Canada’s. International Journal of Health Care Finance & Economics, 9(1), 1-24. doi:10.1007/s10754-008-9044-0
The facts bear out the conclusion that the way healthcare in this country is distributed is flawed. It causes us to lose money, productivity, and unjustly leaves too many people struggling for what Thomas Jefferson realized was fundamental. Among industrialized countries, America holds the unique position of not having any form of universal health care. This should lead Americans to ask why the health of its citizens is “less equal” than the health of a European.
On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.
Park, Han. Broken system: The U.S. has failed at health care. 27 Oct. 2007. 16 November
Health care advancements in America are notably the best in the world. We continually strive for preventions and cures of diseases. America has the best medical scientists and physicians that specialize in their medical fields. According to Joseph A. Califano Jr. (2003), "what makes America health care system great is its ability to attract the finest minds in our society," that can help the sick by preventing and curing medical complications. (p. 18). We are noted worldwide for our medical care and physicians from other countries jump at the opportunity to join the American medical system.
Niles, N. J. (2014). Basics of the U.S. health care system (2nd ed.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://samples.jbpub.com/9781284043761/Chapter1.pdf
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
spends about 15% of its gross domestic product on healthcare, thereby making it the largest sector of the economy” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Americans are not healthier than some of the other developed nations, regardless of these extensive costs” (WHO, 2010). “Almost 40 million Americans are uninsured and about 18% of Americans under the age of 65 receive half of the recommended healthcare services” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Though, quality of care was noted not to vary much in cities with respect to lack of insurance, poverty, penetration of managed care and availability of physicians and hospital beds” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005).
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
The need for universal health care within the United States has been evident, and needed to be addressed. The old healthcare system was plagued with issues, including expensive premiums that were on the rise, along with an inflated average infant mortality rate and limited average life expectancy, which ultimately led to many people being left uninsured (“Affordable” 2). In the 2012 presidential election, one key issue was how to reform America’s broken health care system, and to instate a successful universal healthcare system that has resolved the previous issues. Being one of the last influential and competitive countries in the world without universal healthcare, the pressure was on for the United States to develop their own system. Since Barack Obama became president, Obamacare, instead of the proposed Romneycare, was born.
Medicare and Medicaid are programs that have been developed to assist Americans in attainment of quality health care. Both programs were established in 1965 and are federally supported to provide health care coverage to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, the disabled, and people with low incomes. Both Medicare and Medicaid are federally mandated and determine coverage under each program; both are run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency ("What is Medicare? What is Medicaid?” 2008).
Commonwealth Fund Commission. Why Not The Best. Results from the National Scoreboard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008. New York: Commonwealth Fund, 2008. Print.
Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.
With the United Nations listing health care as natural born right and the escalating cost of health care America has reached a debatable crisis. Even if you do have insurance it's a finical strain on most families.
The US health system has both considerable strengths and notable weaknesses. With a large and well-trained health workforce, access to a wide range of high-quality medical specialists as well as secondary and tertiary institutions, patient outcomes are among the best in the world. But the US also suffers from incomplete coverage of its population, and health expenditure levels per person far exceed all other countries. Poor measures on many objective and subjective indicators of quality and outcomes plague the US health care system. In addition, an unequal distribution of resources across the country and among different population groups results in poor access to care for many citizens. Efforts to provide comprehensive, national health insurance in the United States go back to the Great Depression, and nearly every president since Harry S. Truman has proposed some form of national health insurance.