One might think that the United States of America would have the best healthcare system in the world; however, nothing could be farther from the truth. The U.S. is currently ranked 37th, while France is ranked number one. With the ever growing middle to poor class in the U. S. a lower socioeconomic status continues to affect ones’ health care coverage. The higher the status, the easier the access is to health care, and a better quality of care is received. Unfortunately, the lower socioeconomic class proves to have decreased access to care, poorer quality of care, and a sicker subgroup (Khan Academy, 2015). The U.S. has vast rural communities, some of which are unable to get to a health care provider or grocery store, and may have …show more content…
One important distinction is that it is neither affordable nor readily available to all citizens. Exorbitant health care overhead has been noted as a major contributing factor with an estimated $360 billion dollars spent annually by the CMS just for their administrative overhead, with 85% of that attributed to insurance systems (Friedman, D., Friedman, H., & Friedman, L., 2016). Overuse of emergency rooms for non-emergency treatment is also responsible for roughly $38 billion in wasted tax dollars annually (Friedman, D. et al.,2016). One study showed that while $750 billion was wasted by the US in one year, 75,000 people still died from inefficient care (Friedman et al, 2016). Additionally, the absence of universal health coverage leaves another 28.6 million Americans without basic health insurance in the U.S. as of 2016 (Kuehner-Hebert, 2017). Without first addressing the basic health care needs of all of our citizens, we as a nation will merely continue to tread water in 37th place, unable to rise and take a leading role in healthcare innovation.
France is leading the nation as one of the top health care systems. The World Healthcare Organization stated that France provided the “close to best overall healthcare in the world” (“Healthcare in France,” 2017, para 1). In France, it is unheard of for an individual not have health insurance. In fact, the
United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010).
As populations around the world continue to grow, it becomes more evident that health services provided worldwide are not growing at the same rate and instead will continue to put further strain on existing health disparities, and create new ones. In the United States alone, access to healthcare is a crucial topic of discussion principally as the American government continues to create initiatives and legislation such as the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Although, the United States has come a long way to legally create access to care to all its citizens, there is a disparity in the number of individuals that in actuality receive healthcare due to the geography of cities and the nation.
Contrary to what many people believe, America’s health status is not quite “up-to-par,” to say the least. Over forty-seven million people in the United States lack health insurance; that is more than 15% of our nation’s population! At first this disturbing truth seems impossible to believe, being as America is one of the most technologically advanced and economically developed countries in the world. “We spend trillions of dollars per year on medical care. That’s nearly half of all the health dollars spent in the world. But we’ve seen our statistics. We live shorter, often sicker lives than almost every other industrialized nation. “We rank 30th in [global] life expectancy” (Adelman 2008). Knowing this brings rise to the question: why are
The single most important impetus for healthcare reform throughout recent history has been rising costs (Sultz, 2006). In the book called The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care, Reid wrote that the nation’s health care system has become excessively expensive, ineffective, and unjust. Among the world’s developed nations, the US ranks near the bottom for healthcare access and quality. However, the US ranks at the top for health expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average of $7,400 per person (Reid, 2010). Therefore, Americans are spending
The increase of expenses - As politicians continue their dissension amongst each other, the situation is worsening in our healthcare system. According to the World Health Organization, to achieve universal health coverage, countries need a financial system that enables people access to all types of health services without incurring financial hardship (Carrin, Mathauer, Xu, & Evans, 2011). This idea would be the foundation of innovative ideas that the U.S. could reform its healthcare system, but too many ideas are sabotaging any valid efforts. In the mean time, the U.S. healthcare system continues to deal with issues such as the increasing uninsured Americans (over 49 million), expensive administrative procedures and the inability to measure the accuracy of quality of care, access of care, and the increasing healthcare spending and financing that limit our ability to efficient utilize resources.
A key factor affecting access to care is economic inequality. Many racial/ethnic groups are considered to be of low socioeconomic status in the United States. When one has to worry about food and housing, health is not considered a priority. Lack of health insurance is a huge problem that many people face. The inequalities in income means less money can be put towards doctor’s visits and medications. Research done by Shi, LeBrun, Zhu, and Tsai (2011) shows
We live in the United States, “The Land of the Brave and Home of the Free.” However, the United States is the only developed country that does not provide guaranteed insurance coverage for all citizens and they’re thereby doing not ensure access to health services (Government hub, n.d.). Meaning other countries offer health coverage without cost. This always disappointed me because America is the richest, and most unequal, country (Sherman, 2015). So why wouldn’t America provide American’s health care insurance (McAlearney, 2003, p. 20). Since the United States does not provide universal health care coverage, we will discuss briefly forms of insurance offered to Americans, the categories of insurance and how individuals qualify for coverage and Affordable Healthcare Act (Obama Care).
In 1998, the United States devoted 13% of its economy to health care, and this figure rose to 16% by 2008. However, despite this rise in government expenditure on health care, outcomes for patients remained the same (Obama, 2016). The quality of the health care system in general was not great; health care
The United States health care system has its own unique way of delivery, unlike many other developed countries where health care is a right for all and almost all the citizens have access to basic health care services. In the United States, health care is market based. If you cannot afford it, then you shouldn’t expect to receive coverage. This causes a human right crisis and deprives millions of Americans from receiving the care they need. The privatization of the U.S. health care system results in a substantial number of Americans who are without health insurance. The health care system is constantly undergoing changes, in response to fears of access, quality and cost. Despite all of these changes, there are still significant disparities
The subject of healthcare in the United States can be a contentious one, and it is also an area where peoples' perceptions don't always align with the facts given by policymakers. What makes healthcare spending so scandalous is the amount of money the United States pours into healthcare each year. Over $8,000 per-patient per-year costs, amount that has more than double any of the other nation. Yet 15 to 25% of the American population has no healthcare coverage due to a lack of any form of universal
3.2 trillion dollars are spent every year on the United States healthcare system (CMS). Estimates report that on average there are 2.6 million deaths in America on a yearly basis (CDC). The source of these calamities is simple: a poor healthcare system. Until American political parties arrive at a consensus, this country’s citizens will continue to fight the war on healthcare. Meanwhile politicians and hospitals fight each other tooth and nail, Atul Gawande, in his article “Overkill”, takes an insider approach into the current health care system to uncover the flaws that are that are forcing patients to collectively pay trillions of dollars each year for healthcare. However, while he does pose valid claims, he misinterprets the culprit and
Health care disparities are the main crux of the American health care system because while American enjoys some of the most advanced health technology the world, it is very much market based, causing health care inequality. These inequalities force people of lower socioeconomic status without insurance to visit emergency rooms once their health problems are catastrophic, expensive, and difficult to treat. By transferring the health system to a proactive system with increased medical education and governmental subsidization, a patient will not only experience diminished health care costs, but also an improved quality of
healthcare system preforms inadequately and is ranked 37th in the world next to countries who don’t have the advanced medicine or technology like the U.S. which is terrifying. Among the top wealthiest countries we are dead last and highest health expenditures according to common wealth fund. How is it possible that a country like ours that has all the technology in the world fall short in providing health care? The answer – money, America’s health care has become more of a business than a service. America has, become an over medicated country consumed by greed by private practice insurance and physicians. Unlike other countries where it’s a service provided to its citizens everybody is insured, everybody has access to quality health care at a low cost.
Many view France’s healthcare system as ideal. This opinion was validated when the World Health Organization ranked it number one in overall healthcare (WHO 2000). Their structure is a multi-payer system which has both public and private sections. It is more
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