Sick Around the World

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.

The economics of healthcare is not at all simple. What you put in is certainly not necessarily indicative of what you get out, as shown by the striking discrepancy between what we pay and what we get out of our healthcare system. This is demonstrated further by comparing our system to those of France and Italy, who come in first and second, respectively, in WHO’s international ranking of healthcare systems (“World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems”). Counter to what many Americans may believe, a number of European nations do not have completely socialized medicine.

Michael Moore depicts the American health care system as one that contains many flaws. He goes on to show different people who have not been able to afford the ridiculous sum of money to perform certain procedures. While scrutinizing the American health care system Michael ventures to Canada, France, Cuba and Great Britain in an attempt to compare health insurance and pharmaceuticals.

The documentary "Sicko" provides an extensive analysis of the different drawbacks of the American healthcare framework. Michael Moore, the director, is upfront with regards to the dissipation of statistical data and portrayal of real-life stories of the healthcare in other nations is better in comparison to that of the US. It is interesting to see the director careful utilize experiences from the Cuba, France, and the UK. A lot of film critics have issued a lot of reviews regarding the significance of the movie in highlighting the real image of the healthcare framework (Zaccagnini & White, 2015, p.110). For example, the illustration of Cuba's health system seems a bit far-fetched to the critics. All in all, Michael Moore does an adequate job in drawing comparisons from the other significant healthcare plans as a way of depicting the ailing form of America's health system.

Health care has been a debatable topic for many years now. More than half of Americas are without health coverage. On the other side the world places like Germany and Japan required that everyone has insurance. In the videos, Sick Around the World and Sick Around America, Frontline examines the health care system in the United States and parts of the world such as, England, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland, for some responses about health care.

Medicare part D contains the prescription drug plans, designed and run by private insurance companies, approved and paid by the federal government, and individual beneficiaries pick the plan they like. Medicaid is a state based program with federally set guidelines, and provides medical coverage for people who can’t afford it. Medicaid must cover kids less than 6 years of age to 133% Federal Poverty Line (FPL) and kids 6-18 to 100% FPL. Medicaid also covers the states children’s health insurance plan ups these to 300% FPL in most states, pregnant women up to 133% FPL, the elderly and those with disabilities who receive SSI (Carroll, 2014). Great Britain health care cost is half the cost of the U.S. because the National Health Service covers just about everybody in Britain, which includes children, people who are unemployed, and people who are retired. People of Great Britain do not pay for premium, co-pays; they don’t ever receive a medical bill for any care received. Great Britain pays for health care out of tax revenue. In Great Britain, the people there pay higher taxes to cover health care cost. The government owns the hospitals and the doctors are salary government employees. Great Britain’s has no medical bankruptcy unlike the United State health care system (PalFreman.J & Reid, T.R, 2008).

The United States’ Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as “Obamacare,” has allowed millions of Americans access to health insurance, that were once unable. The Affordable Care Act has helped those who were unable to obtain health insurance due to pre-existing conditions, and those unable to afford the high costs of premiums and out of pocket expenses. While it has allowed millions to obtain health coverage, the ACA has its flaws. These flaws could be greatly improved by implementing ideas and strengths from universal healthcare plans from other countries around the world. I have chosen three countries who rank higher than the U.S. when it comes to their Health Care Systems- Germany, Norway, and Japan.

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)”.

The documentary present by PBS “Sick Around the World” gave an insightful look to what other country’s healthcare systems are compared to the US. The film took a closer look at the healthcare systems of Great Britain, Japan, Germany, and Taiwan. Comparing all these country’s healthcare systems, the components in common are that it’s universal, fixed prices for medical treatment, and majority of providers believe that the citizens pay too little for healthcare. The problem with the issues changing the American healthcare system is that the culture of the US is individualistic, meaning we are grown to focus on ourselves, not the others around us. Changing the system, allowing healthcare to be universal is a problem to individuals because

This video Sick Around the World was extremely interesting to learn how countries in different parts of the world have designed their health care systems to benefit their citizens while still being feasible for that country. At first, I was skeptical that any of these models could actually work for the United States but after watching the video, there is one that may work if it was adjusted carefully to fit America's need. I believe that the health care system that would possibly work in America would be the model that the British government uses. In the video, a British Doctor states they they pay for everyone's health care using one half of the amount of money that Americans spend per person. They don't have co-pays or fees for their health

The United States’s and Switzerland’s health care systems are compared and analyzed for this written assignment. The United states do not have a universal health care system. It has a regulated healthcare market system composed of private insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations. Tricare is health insurance for military, spouses,dependents and beneficiaries.(Cherry, B, (2014)) Government funded programs provide health coverage for the unemployed, elderly, low income and retired. “100 million Americans receive health insurance from government funded programs.” (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, (n.d)) Government funded programs are Medicare, Medicaid and

In this Unit, I took most interest in the concept of preventative care. After reading Chapters 1, 2, and 12 I could see that Americas approach to medicine is most focused on defensive care, because providers are so focused on avoiding malpractice lawsuits. The book stated how defensive medicine is costly because there are many unnecessary tests and services that are done. It can be argued that defensive medicine increases quality of care due to thoroughness, but physicians are just administering these tests to protect themselves from possible lawsuits. After watching the documentary, Sick Around the World, I found that the UK places a huge emphasis on preventative care. Because of their focus on preventative care, the UK is an overall healthier

Moore's documentary combines true-life stories of individuals with insurance whose health and finances were negatively impacted by the healthcare structure of America. He also shows how so-called socialized medicine in Europe, far from being a horror-show of waiting lists and denial of care, is far more civilized and compassionate than the United States system. No one has to prioritize finances over quality of care; consumers are treated as patients, not as potential sources of revenue. "Moore visits the countries of Canada, England, France and Cuba, all of which have (1) universal health care and (2) a longer life expectancy and lower infant mortality than the United States" (Ebert 2007). Moore also underlines how the US system of care creates a bad impression of American compassion abroad by showing how terrified his relatives are of crossing

France, Germany, and Japan share several features in their healthcare systems that help to contribute to their success. All of these countries align well with the Bismarck Model of healthcare. Common features of these countries include that nearly all people are guaranteed healthcare insurance. The government controls which insurers cover certain populations. An addition, the government mandates minimum healthcare packages from employers. Physicians and hospitals receive standard payments using price control and ceiling caps. Reimbursement occurs at the same rate everywhere regardless of insurer. Regulations control rising costs.

Healthcare is a major global concern, and is a matter worth much time and resources. The healthcare systems employed in Germany, France, and The Netherlands all have had great success at efficiently utilizing social or national health care systems to provide universal coverage to all their citizens. However, there are many differences in the financing of their systems, as well as how they choose to deliver their care.