The Uninsured and Underinsured

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).

The U.S. Health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance.” (WHO, 2000, p. 1) Progression in the United States has not kept up with the advances in other wealthy nations dealing with the population health. Disease and chronic disability report almost 50% of America health problem (JAMA, 2013).

The United States has a very unique healthcare system. Does this mean that we are simply leagues ahead of the rest of the world in healthcare? Unfortunately, not at all. The ideal of American exceptionalism is apt to describe our healthcare system. That is, our current system is exceptionally bad. Per capita, the United States spends “twice the average of other developed countries” on healthcare ("United States Per Capita Healthcare Spending Is More Than Twice The Average Of Other Developed Countries"). Yet, in the World Health Organization’s ranking of healthcare systems by nation, the U.S. comes in at a dismal 37th place, despite spending the most per person of any country on Earth on healthcare ("World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems").

The United States health care system ranks 37th in the world. Statistically, it’s bizarre how United States is amongst one of the most advanced nations in the world and the fact that it spends more on its healthcare

Many people believe that the current of health care in the United States is the best health care in the world however it has major shortcomings that has become more visible for the whole world to see. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world based on health expenditure per capita and on

The United States health care system is unique among other advanced countries. This system does not have a central governing agency, it is delivered under imperfect market conditions, there are multiple players and payers, and there is no universal health care coverage (Shi & Singh, 2015, p. 9). In a time where healthcare reform is being discussed, it is important for the United States to consider what is proactive as well as what is failing the system. That is what Sick Around The World did; the documentary compared five other countries’ (United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland) healthcare systems to see how they stacked up against the United States.

T.R. Reid uses cost, quality, and choice to fully evaluate healthcare systems all around the world. As an American citizen, I have always thought our system was unfair. The poor suffer more than the rich for going to see a doctor for the same reason. In chapter one of The healing of America, T.R. Reid comments on how many Americans have also started to notice that the American healthcare system is not as great as we once thought. Not only is it unfair, but it is also expensive and unsuccessful (9). By looking at all the other countries’ healthcare systems, Reid would then be able to better pinpoint how America can better its health care system by taking portions of those health systems.

Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall among 11 industrialized countries on measures of health system quality, efficiency, access to care, equity, and healthy lives, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. The other countries included in the study were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands,

As you can see, even if America doesn’t have the BEST healthcare system in the nation, it does have other medical advantages. In the long run, Europe has all other countries beat. Maybe America will put the money the population pays for their healthcare to good use, instead of useless machinery that will never be used. Maybe one day America will have the top healthcare system in the nation. Maybe more people will want to go to the doctor because they don’t have to worry about their next pay check being demolished before they even get

What does America have to show for all the money it is spending on health care? It wouldn’t be unreasonable to speculate that the U. S. would have the lowest infant mortality, the highest life expectancy, and the most efficient health care in the world. Unfortunately, however, that is not the case. The United States according to the same article, ranks 46th out of 48th in health care efficiency, Serbia and Brazil are the only two ranking lower. Infant mortality and life expectancy in the United States rank 167thand 44th out of 224 respectivelyaccording to the CIA World Factbook (2015). Additionally, approximately 15 percent of people in the U.S. are still uninsured. The return on investment in health care needs to have better results; a system that provides the highest quality care that leaves no one out.

Actual medical care in the United States is better than many other countries, but there are those who think adoption of universal government-controlled healthcare is the way we are headed. In fact, the United States and Mexico are the only countries of the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that do not have universal health care. (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2013)

The reality, from analysis of facts, is that American health care is superior. This inescapable conclusion derives from actual data, not opinion. The world’s leading journals are filled with studies demonstrating the superiority of American medical care to care found in other countries with systems more heavily controlled by government bodies. These studies verify better survival from serious diseases like cancer, better access to treatment for the most prevalent chronic diseases, wider access to preventative care and cancer screening, broader availability of the newest life changing medical technology, wider access to innovative, lifesaving cures and safer, less invasive treatments, more rapid access to highly trained specialists, and ultimately far better access to the world’s leading doctors and medical scientists who themselves are the source of the world’s leading innovations by any metric

The United States spends more on health insurance than any other nation, and the outcomes of such spending is still considerably lower than in other countries. A study conducted by a group of individuals at the Commonwealth Fund that involved eleven countries - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States found that the US ranks last in critical areas like efficiency, equity, and healthy lives[7]. View the image 1 in the appendix section to see the rank result from their study. Results like these are the reason why health care costs are the focus of groups like the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, and is the target of many health

With modern advances in science and technology and their applications, America is expected to be a pioneer and leading country in the world in disease eradication, increasing longevity and providing a better quality of life for her citizens.1Unfortunately, the real picture isn’t the same. According to the commonwealth fund survey 2014, USA ranked the last and worst amongst 11 other developed countries including UK, France, Australia, Germany, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, and Switzerland in terms of efficiency, equity and outcomes instead of having the world’s most expensive health care system.2 So, the imperatives for a change in health care system were urgent.

US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of