Health Care Essay

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Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems. Everyone is always competing for the best health care. Different health care systems are different through out the world, but all with similar ideas of at least delivering some form of health care. Some countries in particular will be highly emphasized: Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Japan in how they work with cost, access, and quality with in the health care systems in their own countries. Switzerland is predominately known for its great health care, rated as best in the world. This is largely due to how it is organized. Reorganization began in the 1994 with the Federal Heath Insurance Act, which came effect in 1996. The system is basically organized into 26 cantons, which are equivalent to US states. Each canton is responsible for the health care of the people in that region and insurance companies operate on a regional basis (James). The government decides on what policies will be covered, and sets prices of the cost of medial charges (McManus). In addition, with in the system there is a complex way with how access, quality and cost are organized. In terms of access, everyone is required to buy and maintain health care within the first 3 months of living within the country. If one cannot afford insurance, the government subsidizes for low-income families. This is extremely important to make sure everyone has health care. Access again is obtained based on what canton on... ... middle of paper ... ...care system would be difficult to implement in America with the complex methods of everything being a fee-for-service. We have many different systems in the United States. However with the new Obama care it is coming and making head way with similar qualities in those different countries. It is interesting with how different America’s health care is from everyone else in the world. Most are universal, required to have health care. We are trying to accomplish that in America, but many don’t like being taxed if they don’t have it. There definitely is a lot we can learn from other countries. Overall Switzerland has a great system set up, with the United Kingdom behind them. Japan is also on track. America is definitely trying to make head way, and eventually will. It all comes down to weighing what is most important, cost, quality, or access to health care.

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