Australia's Free Universal Health Care Sytem Essay

The United States is known as one of the greatest world powers: however it is held back by its weak healthcare system. As of 2010 the US healthcare system currently ranks the 37th best out of 190 countries (Murray). Before the introduction of the Affordable Care Ac in 2010, the United States had an individual insurance market. It was the responsibility of the individual or their employer to take care of their healthcare costs. On top of this, millions of people could be denied insurance by different agencies due to pre-existing claims. Healthcare was expensive, but the costs were nothing compared to the medical bills owed by an uninsured person. Universal healthcare is a basic right not a privilege. Everyone should be given the

The Australian health care system is a highly functioning and accessible system based on universal principles of access and equity. In this essay I will discuss the historical evolution and current structure of our health system, identifying current health service models of delivery and look at its strengths, weaknesses, policies and health priorities currently in Australia. I will discuss the roles of government and non-government health services in service provision and funding sources of Australian health. We will get a better insight of the role of standards for residential aged care and look into a broad range of professions that consumers may engage with in health service delivery, their roles and functions of each profession.

The united states have a unique health care system of delivery that pursues to target some specific areas. The health reform, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also called the Obama care (2010), which holds the promise of universal health coverage under government mandates. With a predominant role that is play from the government the Health Care Reform is said to be, one of the most important pieces of legislation today. Universal health care is the pourpose that all citizens should have access to affordable, high-quality medical care and acces to primary care. Health care reform will provide every American with the ability to obtain, health insurance regardless of race, ethnicity, or income. With universal health care, everyone’s

The ability of U.S. organizations to be able to compete on a global scale is hampered by lesser developed countries providing workers with the same efficiency at lower pay rates. Working to fix the problem is essential to the future success of U.S. organizations and the success of U.S. citizens. The question is how to address this issue in a way that is ethically representative of our country and those who lead it. According to Princeton economist Paul Krugman one such solution is to provide Universal Healthcare in the United States in turn lessening the financial burden on organizations and the workers they employ. The dilemma this raises is around the ethical boundaries of Universal Healthcare.

The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.

“Health care is an essential requirement for well being” (Maruthappu). All over the world, health care is a constant concern because of the difficulty maintaining quality and affordability. In the United States, health care reform has been a huge debate topic. The purpose of health care is to satisfy the medical needs of an individual. However, many Americans consider health care a “luxury,”because millions of low-income families cannot afford the same care as the middle or high class. In this case, the right to quality and affordable health care is not extended to all Americans. Universal health care will ensure a higher life expectancy, reduce the cost of medical treatment through a single-payer method, and improve medical treatments.

It is essential for the United States government to provide its entire citizen with a free health care. This system ensures that everyone has an access to medical services regardless to his or her social status. It is an important way of preserving life as free health care plan ensures free treatment to the entire citizen. In addition, it can play a big role of ensuring that there is an improved access to health services. Ensuring that all American citizens have an access to the right health care will in turn decrease health care costs. It can also help to stop medical bankruptcies in the entire nation. Lastly, it is one way of reducing poverty as it will lower the debt of the US which would then increase employment.

The Australian population currently exceeds 20 million, with most of the population located primarily in the cities and along the coast; it also spreads to rural and remote indigenous communities. The Australian Government spends in excess of 66 billion dollars per year on health care, averaging out to approx $3,300 per person. (Medicare Australia 2009)

"Universal healthcare refers to a healthcare system that provides benefits to all persons in a particular country." (Definition of "Universal Healthcare Coverage", Investopedia.com). This form of healthcare is used among the richest countries, Ex. Canada and France. Other rich countries that use the Universal Healthcare system spend far less than the United States does. Although the U.S spends more on healthcare, “The U.S ranks 28th below almost all other rich countries, when it comes to the quality of its healthcare assessed by UN parameters (pdf, p.13)"(Annalisa Merreli, A history of why the US is the only rich country without universal healthcare, qz.com). These statistics call for a change. The United States should adopt universal healthcare because it would benefit business, provide equal access to healthcare, and is a human right.

“The Australian health care system is a highly functioning and accessible system based on universal principles of access and equity”.

All people across the globe are entitled to the health attention they require. The World Health Organization has identified five elements to achieve this goal. These include reducing social disparities in health, providing services that meet clients’ expectations, altering public policies to address health, leadership reforms and increasing stakeholder participation (WHO, 2013).

One of the greatest changes in healthcare in the past ten years has been the rise of managed care, much to the displeasure of many patients and physicians alike. Managed care arose out of concern about spiraling healthcare costs and was designed to encourage physicians to give patients treatments that were cost-effective out of their own financial interests. "The consumer strategy was directed at imposing some barriers to use by levying various forms of co-insurance. The most common approaches used either deductibles (where the consumer paid the first portion of the bill a technique familiar in other types of insurance) or co-payments (where the consumer paid a portion of the bill and the insurance company the rest) or a combination of both' (Kane et al 1994). Managed care has given health insurance companies an increasingly significant voice in how treatment is administered and allocated. Managed care has proliferated in the past decade despite considerable criticism of the practice of 'nickel and diming' patients as well as the considerable bureaucratic red tape it is has generated. Also, research indicates that healthy, well-insured patients tend to over-consume care without meaningful co-pays but poorer, sicker patients can be deterred even by moderate co-payments and suffer negative health consequences (Kane et al 1994). However, managed care has not gone away and is a reality that all healthcare

On March 23, 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama, raising the question for many of whether this new law was going to be more helpful or hurtful. With universal healthcare, healthcare coverage would be increased tremendously, costs would be reduced, jobs would be created, and consumers would be protected. Conversely, it will also raise taxes and wait times, lead to a smaller number of doctors, and infringe on some employers’ 1st amendment rights. Presenting both arguments for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows one to draw a conclusion on whether the new program will benefit or hinder the citizens of the United States.

Conclusion: Therefore, implementing a universal health care system in our society would greatly benefit everyone.

Many would argue that here, in the United States, we have the best healthcare in the world. We benefit from the most up to date medical technologies, medications, and services. People come from every corner of the world to take advantage of our top notch physicians and facilities. But is this reputation warranted, and if so, at what cost? The average annual cost per US resident is $7,681; this comprises 16.2% of our gross domestic product. These costs rank us among the highest of industrialized nations (Lundy, 2010). Does this high expenditure equate to better outcomes? According to the National Scorecard on US Health System Performance (2008), the US received a 65 out of 100 possible points.