Essay On Germany Health Care System

The United States’ health care system in comparison to the Germany health system seems to be fairly similar in many ways; however there are some major differences. One seems to be divided into public and private sectors and funded mostly by the public; Germany's, is considered better at times which tends to run differently. In the two healthcare systems, both systems are taking the time to spend quite a bit of the governmental revenue on health but still have two of the lower life expectancies. The United States faces severe challenges in access to health care, cost effectiveness, equity, and to a lesser extent in coordinating care. Meanwhile, the German system is confronted by problems in coordinating care and controlling costs.

The U.S. health care system is way more complex than what meets the eye. A major difference between the health care system in the U.S. and other nations, is that the U.S. does not have universal health care. Lack of a universal health care opens up the doors for competition amongst insurance, physicians, technology, hospitals and outpatient services.

Many people believe that the current of health care in the United States is the best health care in the world however it has major shortcomings that has become more visible for the whole world to see. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world based on health expenditure per capita and on

The fifth country that was visited was Switzerland. Switzerland spends 11.6% of its GDP on healthcare. Citizens pay $750 a month for premiums. If you are too poor to pay for your premiums, the government will pay. Citizens pay 10% of the cost of services for a co-pay. Switzerland also used the “social insurance” model. 95% of the population already had voluntary insurance when they country switched systems. All citizens are required to have coverage. Switzerland shows that in a high capitalist nation with powerful insurance and pharmaceutical industries, universal coverage is possible. Insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit off of basic care and are not able to select only young and healthy applicants. The government sets the prices on drugs, but the insurers and providers negotiate on all other prices. Switzerland has the second most expensive system behind the U.S. The Swiss do not have gatekeepers, some insurance plans may require them or may give a discount for using them.

As some people were skeptical about the basis for the ranking, several studies were conducted, this time including “amenable mortality” in the criteria. France was first in the ranking. One good thing about France’s health care system is that everyone has health care. The country is also reported to rely on private and government insurance. Unlike the United States, France lets its citizens to have freedom in choosing hospitals, doctors, and care. Additionally, the health care system does not put much constrain on doctors with regards to making medical decisions. The same situation is evident on German health care system, where everyone has fully portable health insurance which comes with package of benefits. Like France, Germany lets its patients have freedom in choosing doctor and hospital during illness. A survey showed that patients and physicians in Germany are both satisfied with their health care system (Reinhardt, 1994, p.22).

For example in Germany, 7% of every paycheck is deducted to pay for government healthcare program and the employer matches that with an additional 7%. In the Netherlands it is a 9% deduction that is not matched by the employer. Additionally like in the U.S. employees will often have additional deduction to pay for supplemental insurance to give items not covered under the Government Healthcare program. For example 92% of people in France now purchase additional private insurance. (Berk, 2007)

The U.S. is an industrialized nation that continues to be behind on providing health care coverage to all citizens. However, the German health care system came up with a plan that ensured all citizens are provided with some form of health care coverage; nevertheless, the U.S. continues to dispute health care reform and how to provide coverage to all citizens. “Health spending per capita in the United States is much higher than in other countries – at least $2,535 dollars, or 51%, higher than Norway, the next largest per capita spender. Furthermore, the United States spends nearly double the average $3,923 for the 15 countries ("Health Care Cost," 2011, table 1)”.

Germany has a market based health system. They have universal health care that covers medical, dental, mental health and even homeopathy. Insurance companies cannot make a profit from insured customers. Therefore, the price for insurance is negotiated between the government and the Insurance provider. Like any other healthcare system there are

Japan has had a relatively inexpensive universal health insurance system for more than 50 years. Germany made health insurance mandatory for its entire population in 2009. Chile has given all Chileans access to a basic health care package since 2005.

Germany’s and the United States’ healthcare systems compare and contrast in many ways. Germany has the third richest economy in the world and many categorize their healthcare system as socialized. Germany provides medical care to all of the citizens—young, poor, old, sick, and injured. Otto von Bismarck the Prussian chancellor in the 1880s in Germany invented the concept of healthcare systems, the notion that a government has to provide mechanisms so all its people can get medical care when they need it. In 1883, the Sickness Insurance Act was passed, representing the first social insurance program. Over the past 130 years the

Comparing health care systems of the United States and Germany. Assessing the areas of health care for adults’ elderly and retired, coverage for prescriptions, referrals for testing and specialties including pre-existing conditions, and financial effects and of course the children.

To show how Bismarck is a 'mixed ' model, and how they differ from the United States, in ways of funding, such as funding through a premium financed social insurance system with a mixture of public and private providers (Joffe & Wiedmann, 1999). Overall the author’s purpose of this article is to point out the differences between the United States Health care system and other nations.

Choose 2 other countries from around the world and discuss the strengths of the U.S. health care system as compared to these countries from an administrator’s and a third-party payer’s perspectives.

The German health care system has the reputation of being one of the best in the world. There is an extensive network of hospitals and doctors covering even the remotest areas of Germany.

Countries that have universal health plans, like Japan and Germany, have better life expectancy rates, spend less on health care, and have more than double the number of its citizens insured (Stephens & Ledlow, 2010). While the debate over