Essay on Healthcare in France Compared to the United States

Health care insurance in the U.S. is extremely competitive and not always fair. Recently in 2012, The Affordable Care Act passed by Barack Obama set new regulations regarding insurance. According to this Act, employers of 50+ employees must offer health insurance, public health insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid was made affordable for those that qualify, it is illegal for anyone to be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions, and everyone must have health insurance or they will endure tax penalties. For Medicare and Medicaid, each state has different qualifications regarding eligibility. Private health insurance is not mandatory, but many of those that can afford it prefer it because it will cover more than any government insurance. Private health insurance also offers family plans along with single plans(varying from company to company), which will definitely attract middle to high income families. Health insurance is an absolute essential in the U.S. as it is up to the citizen to obtain one that works for them.

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

When it comes to Veterans the United States follows the Beveridge model. For citizens over the age of 65, the National Health Insurance model is used. The working class Americans ' health insurance is modeled after the Bismark model. For Americans who don 't have health insurance, the United States follows the Out of Pocket model. France, on the other hand follows only the Bismark model. America 's working class and all of France have the same healthcare model.

During the past few decades in the United States, health care cost has been skyrocketing, and many people have lost their insurance as result of the high cost. Approximately 45 million American s are uninsured or they don’t have a real health care plan that can cover all their needs. Some Americans have the perception that even with coverage, cost and other problems in the system, the quality of the Healthcare System in the US is better than other countries in the world, something that it is not true. As a matter of fact the United States is one of the richest, industrialized countries in the world where it spends a lot of money in its healthcare system. Spending more money in the Healthcare system does not mean it will be a better system, nor it does not mean it could not improve in some areas. In contrast, the Federal Republic of Germany where its healthcare system is completely different from the United States.

68.8 percent of people in the United States and 30 percent of the entire global population are obese. “Obesity today is officially an epidemic; it is arguably the most pressing public health problem we face, costing the healthcare system an estimated $90 billion a year.” said Michael Pollan in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.”

In 2014, almost everyone will be required to purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people, but if employers do not offer health insurance, individuals will be required to purchase health care insurance on their own (Wolfe, 2012).

In this paper, the health care systems of the United States and France will be compared. The topics that will be discussed are health statistics and costs, health care and financing, health care administration, and human resources. Data will be provided to each pertaining country, and both countries will be compared. The reason France was chosen to be compared to the United States is that the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked France number one for health care and to see how the United States matches up to the number one country.

There are a variety of structures of healthcare systems throughout the world. With living and being educated within the United States of America (US), it is imperative that analysis of other countries healthcare systems as well as comparisons between the US system and the system of another country occur. For this paper, the US healthcare system will be analyzed and compared to the healthcare system in France. In general, all countries include a form of both private and public health insurance (Chua, 2006).

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)

Obesity has been a problem in America for multiple years. Obesity rates in the United States are going to increase 37% in the next twenty-five years (Pomeranz 2009). According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 68.8% of adults are overweight or obese, one in every 20 people or 6.3% of adults have extreme obesity and 3 in every 4 males or 74% of males are obese (Overweight and Obesity 2009). Once someone comes to the realization that they are obese, it can be hard to turn their life around and lose some of that weight that is making them obese. Obesity can be the cause of multiple health related issues that Americans face. For example, obesity can cause type two diabetes, cardio metabolic disease,

In today’s world, healthcare is provided in one of two ways. Most developed countries provide it free. Either the required care itself is free or one pays for it with free insurance provided by the government, known as not-for-profit. The alternative is obviously for-profit. In such systems, individuals pay for services either out of pocket or using private insurance provided by their employer. In which case, part of the payment for policy premium is generated through payroll deduction. Furthermore, the healthcare system can be considered either as a closed or an open system, for which the United States (U.S.) has both. The U.S. healthcare system when compared to the French system has its similarities and differences. Funding for healthcare

In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous burden on both the health and healthcare of those affected. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. According to the Centers of Disease Control, as of 2013, 34.9% of our population is considered overweight or obese. America is the richest yet the fattest nation in the world, and our obese backsides are the butt of jokes in every other country (Klein, 1994).

Affecting over 36% of the population, obesity is a rising epidemic within the United States. An estimated 75% of adults over the age of twenty are classified as overweight or obese (Kolata, 2016). The disease affects women more significantly than men, with a greater prevalence within African American and Hispanic ethnic groups. Extreme obesity (BMI >40), affects six percent, and growing, of the American populace. This rise in obesity correlates not lonely with a lower life expectancy but also a rise in numerous other non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, pulmonary ailments, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues. Although the obesity epidemic is seen mostly within developed countries, such as the United States, the non-communicable disease is showing advancing prevalence and incidence rates worldwide, including low and middle income countries. The World Health Organization estimates one billion people are classified as overweight or obese (Kapil, 2016). In addition to the plethora of additional health care problems, obese patients are often hard to treat as the health care system does not yet have the equipment to detect, measure, or treat possible underlying problems. The treatment of obesity and related conditions is currently estimated to reach $100 billion within the United States (Kapil, 2016). Accounting for more than 100,000 premature deaths each year, the disease is the second highest noncommunicable and preventable disease

Welcome to the United States of America; where every citizen has the right to life, liberty, and an expanding waistline. Recent studies have shown that “1 out of every 3 Americans are considered obese or overweight”(Kelley); a major contributor for 100,000 to 400,000 weight related deaths yearly. As a cost of being one of the heaviest nations in the world, the U.S. designates around $190.2 billion dollars, or 21% of all medical spending every year, for treatment, preventative, and diagnostic services, in an effort to stop what is now referred to as ”an obesity epidemic”. As for individuals living with this chronic disease on a daily basis, a recent report from George

“Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of the U.S adult population (approximately 78.6 million Americans). The number of Americans with obesity had steadily increase since 1960, a trend that has slowed down in recent years but show no sign of reversing”.