Switzerland Health Care System

The healthcare systems of Switzerland and the United States are quite similar in some aspects and vastly different in others. In Switzerland, the healthcare is universal and available to all. It is provided by private individual insurance companies and subsidized by the government when needed. Basic health insurance is required to be purchased within 3 months of residency or after birth and is an individual’s choice as to what carrier they choose. Of course, there are exceptions to this mandate but they are very few.("Healthcare in Switzerland," “n.d.”, para. 1) Because of this requirement, 99.5% of the population in Switzerland has

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

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March of 2010. This law provides equal access to medical care, lowered health care costs and eliminates denial of coverage of pre-existing conditions to the millions of the uninsured and insured Americans that were without and denied health care coverage. Patients who were denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions can now look forward to relief and great improvement because their illness is covered in the new policy, and care is now provided for them at next to minimal cost (Stehly,

Before creating Obamacare, million people in the United States could not afford the expenditure to buy health insurances and drug costs. Therefore, they have no chance to prevent diseases or receive treatments. They could be discriminated against coverage and treatment because they had pre-existing conditions. As shown in statistics in the article “Health Coverage before the ACA, and Why All Americans are Better Off Now” of David Simas, the insurance companies could deny to coverage nearly one in two people because they have pre-condition such as heart diseases, cancer, or diabetes.

Finding a healthcare system that is beneficial and affordable for the country’s citizens is challenging and often seems impossible due to the high price of medical care and the broad spectrum of healthcare issues that insurance plans must cover. The debate of a healthcare system which is affordable, effective, and accessible for the majority of the population is a topic of great discussion. The United States and Switzerland health care systems are prime examples of this debate. The United States has The Affordable Care Act, or Obama Care as it is commonly known in Switzerland residents have a Universal Health Care System. While both systems provide health care to their residents, they each have good and less desirable aspects to them.

The Affordable Care Act was created to make an attempt to reduce the amount we pay for healthcare. “Healthcare premiums were too expensive for many families to afford,” is a common issue among citizens today, and we have come to the conclusion that Obamacare can help reduce that amount. Ever since this has been put in place, many Americans deny this, but it says that even if you aren’t 100 percent healthy it will still cover you, unlike regular healthcare premiums opposed that. Another benefit that is presented, it that you don’t have to have a high income or good health to be covered, the act says that it will cover you no matter what condition or state you are in.

The affordable care act was passed into law by congress and the president in 2010. This plan was established to help all individuals obtain health insurance, regardless of having a pre-existing condition through the government marketplace as an affordable amount, or if you did not meet the set standards, was offered a state based health care coverage (HHS, 2015). Those individuals who did not have qualified medical coverage for the majority of the tax year, they would be penalized and have to pay a certain amount or a percentage based off of their income. Also under the ACA employers are now responsible, depending on how many employees are employed with their company, to offer their full time employees health care coverage, or also face a

Three years later, Obamacare was once again under review. A crucial part of the act is income-based subsidies. These subsidies help make health insurance more affordable and ultimately reduce the number of uninsured Americans. After a 6-3 ruling, the court upheld that the Affordable Care Act authorized federal tax credits for eligible Americans living not only in states with their own exchanges but also in the 34 states with federal marketplaces. This final ruling solidified Obamacare for the remainder of the Obama administration. The most notable component of Obamacare came in 2014. Obamacare eliminated pre-existing condition discrimination. A pre-existing condition is a medical condition that started before a person 's health insurance went into effect. Under Obamacare, health insurance companies cannot deny coverage, charge more, or deny treatment based on a previous health status.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a law put in place to provide comprehensive health insurance reforms that allowed Americans to have access to affordable health insurance options. The Affordable Care Act seeks to make health care more affordable, secure, accessible and of a higher quality for the millions of Americans who were previously uninsured, or who had insurance that didn’t provide them adequate coverage and security.

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)”.

This paper presents a comparison of the health care systems in the United States and the Netherlands. The health care systems in the United States and the Netherlands are both a work in progress. This paper compares the many common strengths and weaknesses between these two countries health care systems using recent data and current trends. The government of the Netherlands has been working towards providing universal health coverage for their citizens since World War II. The government of the United States is divided on the necessity of providing universal health coverage for its citizens; however, it appears to be moving in this direction. The United States approximately 70 years behind the Netherlands on the health care front. Comparing the similarities and differences in the health care systems of the United States and the Netherlands gives a lot of insight into policy changes and reform that could benefit the United States. The continually improving health care system in the Netherlands may be the best model for the United States as it moves towards a Universal Health Care system.

What I learned about the Affordable Care Act is that it is there to help the poor, but not many people support Obamacare. There are numerous reasons as to why some people do not like Obamacare, one of the main reasons being they do not want their taxes going to something they do not support such as abortion. In a claim to protect their 10th amendment right, people are trying to get out of paying taxes. But, eventually everyone in America will have health care, and for the people with preexisting conditions this act helps them. People who had preexisting conditions probably have a bad credit score which can exclude them from most insurance providers. This particular subject touching because most people in my family have preexisting conditions and are not ensured. Most have Medicaid, but not all doctors, well decent doctors, accept that type of insurance because they cannot make the same profit as they would from a regular insurance company.

President Obama on March 23, 2010 signed one of the biggest reforming acts of our century, the Affordable Care Act or to some refer to it as “Obama Care”. This was President Obama’s finest moments for some and for others it was believed that it wasn’t great idea to create such a law act. The Affordable Care Act law was created and established to change everything about health care and bring in magnificent reforms. This law was given to citizens to have access to healthcare despite income or any pre-existing conditions or stipulations. Most are the benefits that are offered by Obama Care is that: Children can’t be denied care because of a pre-existing condition, specific persons with pre-existing conditions can now have insurance access, and young adults can stay in their parents’ insurance until the age of 26. Insurance coverage aren’t and can’t be denied because of any errors made on the application, which wasn’t allowed in the past.

Switzerland’s health care system follows the Bismarck Model in terms of sickness funds. It is financed through contributions of the individual to the insurance company rather than through tax or employment based contributions.16 This keeps tax percentages down and allows for more equality in access. The insurance is regulated by the country’s canton.16 The country works under the concept of social solidarity, meaning that the government is responsible in giving all social services to their citizens Although they have the second to the highest level of spending per capita at $6,325, they are able to place that money to good use in terms of quality of care for their citizens including mental health care and

The country of Sweden has seemed to excel significantly when it comes to health services. An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranking in 2010 placed Sweden in first place for having the best healthcare system out of nineteen industrialized countries (Bernpaintner, 2013). Sweden offers universal health under a bureaucracy, while the United States offers a free market version of health care. Even though the U.S. offers more freedoms to their citizens when it comes to doctors and hospitals, it does not necessarily mean that American’s are receiving better care than the Swedish. The U.S. needs a new plan for a healthcare system that will reduce costs and possibly create universal care. What can the U.S. learn from a system like Sweden’s? Could the U.S. adopt the ideas of the Swedish health system? And, what would happen if America did adopt the Swedish health system? Sweden’s system is perfect for a country of that size, health status, and income invariance. Through comparing these three topics between the two countries it will show exactly what the U.S. can learn from the Swedish health system and how it will NOT be an effective plan for the U.S.