Summary: The Uk's Universal Healthcare System

One of the strengths of the NHS England is residents receive free fully funded medical care that includes all medical treatment, screenings including antenatal, dental, prescriptions, specialist referrals and optometrists (NHS England, 2016). Furthermore, while being free at point of access, the NHS system is an efficient, effective, care, safe, coordinated and patient centred system that was ranked number two worldwide on equity (NHS England, 2016). Free healthcare supports Ham 's (2010) claim that being free at point of entry is a characteristic of a high performing health care system. The benefits of free healthcare were that everyone was able to get the same medical treatment.

In contrast to the United States, Great Britain has a health care system that is focused on the delivery of health care as a human right. Because of this model health insurance is universal for all citizens allowing everyone to have access to care. According to Sick Around the World produced by Jon Palfreman (2008), Great Britain runs a system that allows their people to never receive medical bills. Instead, Great Britain has implemented a national health system where the government runs and regulates the delivery of health care (Shi & Singh, 2013, p. 20). They have universal coverage where all citizens have access to health care under the national health system (Thorlby & Arora, 2016, p. 49). People living in Great Britain can also choose to pay for their own private insurance but only a small number of people select to do so.

In the United States we have private healthcare which each individual person has to pay

It also proposed a national health service that would be free of charge and available to all. In 1948 Aneurin Bevan launched the NHS “The NHS was created out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth.” (nhs.uk). The core principles of the NHS were that it should meet the needs of everyone, be free at the point of delivery and be based on the need for treatment rather than the ability to pay. The NHS provided a completely free service until 1951 when fees for prescriptions, dental treatments and eye treatments were introduced, today the service still remains free to use and the fees for such things are something that can be squashed if you are above or below a certain age or in receipt of a particular benefit. Becoming a welfare state meant that there was now a minimum standard of living that each person in Britain should not fall below with benefits being issued for unemployment, sickness, retirement and maternity on the basis that everyone contributes to

This has not changed in the current NHS, albeit more values have been added to improve service delivery. The NHS remains free with the exception of some charges, such as prescriptions, optical and dental services. It covers everything from antenatal screening and routine treatments for long-term conditions, to transplants, emergency treatment and end-of-life care.

In today’s world a big topic of discussion is healthcare. Currently, the United States uses Obamacare. Many believe that Obamacare is nice step up from the previous healthcare system but others may disagree and seek a different, better, solution from other countries. Great Britain is one of those other countries and they run their healthcare based on the National Health Service, a completely free healthcare service.

Great Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) covers everyone children, unemployed and retired. There is no payment required. Taxes are higher in Great Britain to cover the medical costs. (Palfreman & Reid, 2008)

When Americans visit other countries like Britain with the National Health Service or “NHS” they do not get all the help they need to obtain a decent price range, so they are required to pay the full amount. A woman in the United Kingdom that was a full born United States citizen, said she went into labor and could not afford to pay for her hospital bills. This became a massive ordeal until the situation was finally secured, and the woman and her baby reached their goal of returning back home to the United States (Gawande).

The NHS has been servicing the nation since its inception on 1948 and it is famous the world over. Prior to the NHS we had no public health care if you wanted to see a doctor you had to pay, there was a small provision for the poorest in the Poor Law 1601, which was amended in the 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act, and then we had to wait till 1942 with the Beveridge report which the NHS is based on. During the last 60yrs the NHS has seen many changes in legislation and policy, some of these

The United Kingdom provides public healthcare to all UK permanent residents may receive free health care

Great Britain stands on its own as a separate entity that ensures the citizens of the federal government have accessed equitable health care services. The payments of the health care services offered by the states go all the citizens is catered for by the general taxation body within the federal government. Every state has a private health care centre that is smaller than the public health care sector. The private health care provisions are provided by the private sector through direct funding by the patient or through taxation accruals in cases where the patient suffers complicated cases like AIDS/HIV (Dewar, 2010).

As the name implies, the National Health Service provides health care services to only permanent residents and any international visitors, including British born citizens, must pay a package rate for health care treatment that the government predetermines. The Washington Post’s assessment of Great Britain’s health care system reveals that this package rate that foreign visitors must pay for basic medical procedures is significantly inexpensive when compared with other industrialized countries. According to the gov.uk website, this National Health Service even provides immediate coverage to new immigrants by making them pay a surcharge as part of their immigration application to enter into the system. Since a majority of health care treatments in Britain are fully covered by the National Health Service, T.R. Reid in the PBS documentary, “Sick Around the World”, explains that no British residents fall into bankruptcy due to an inability to pay medical bills. The nhs.uk website further highlights the wide scope of health care coverage that the National Health Service provides by explaining how patients receive inpatient and outpatient hospital care, physician services, preventive treatments, diagnostic screenings, pediatric care, emergency care, nursing facilities, long-term care, and end-of-life care without any out-of-pocket payments.

Funding for the NHS is a combination of private and public sources. All legal UK residents have access to the NHS and pay a payroll tax, which equates approximately to 10% of earnings. Although health care provided by the NHS is largely free, there are fees for certain services such as prescriptions, dental and optician services, which are paid by all citizens who are working and make more than minimum wage.

Great Britain there is no cost or financial burden for medical services. The only cost as stated earlier was for prescription drugs based on eligibility. As for the U.S. the cost of medical care depends on the coverage. For example the elderly on Medicare can also apply for Medicare to help cover the cost of medical bills. In addition to the elderly, low income families who cannot afford medical coverage can apply for Medicaid to help lower cost of medical bills. Medicaid is income based so requirements must be met in order to qualify. There are many options in which people care receive help in paying for their medical bills. There is support to help offset the cost of medical bills for example, some hospitals offer discounts if someone

The NHS can raise funds from prescription charges, dental charges, glasses, contact lenses, through treating patients privately, overseas visitors and their insurers for the cost of NHS treatment, (Harker 2011). Other sources of the NHS funding also come from Big Lottery Fund and hospital car parking fees. The NHS started with a fund of £437m from 1949 and has since risen rapidly. It is also believed that it was and remains under funded up till this date, Harker (2011). It is pointed out that the proportion financed has varied over the years but has been more than 95%,