The United States And Sweden

The US health care system is a mixture of private and public sectors. About 80% of care is provided by the private sector. This includes hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, medical devices and medical research. The biggest price tag by far comes from the medical research aspect. This cost has to be passed down to the consumer of course. About 60% of Americans have health insurance which is provided by their employer. People who get their insurance through their employer don’t get charged more based on prior illness, age or gender. Insurance coverage can range in benefits and coverage, but pretty much cover preventative care, prescriptions, and medical care for illness. There is also a co-pay that needs to be payed this is usually

America faces a choice, keep the health care coverage it has, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or scrap it and come up with something better. While the ACA in its entirety leaves room for improvement could do better, much better. Currently the United States spends more on health care than any other country. According to a Huffington Post article (2013) the U.S. spends about 17.2 percent of their GDP on medical care. Health care per capita is approximately $8,608, second only to Switzerland, which spends $9,121.

In 2014, the U.S. health care spending increased 5.3% to $3.0 trillion, or $9,523 per person, a faster increase than the 2.9% in 2013. The spending increased due to extensive coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014b). In 2014, Medicare spending grew 5.5% to $618.7 billion and represented 20% of the national health expenditure, a faster increase than the 3% growth in 2013. The spending increased due to prescription drugs, physician and clinical services, government administration, and insurance (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014b). In 2014, Medicaid spending grew 11% to $495.8 billion and represented 16% of the national health expenditures, a faster increase

On average, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2014), an estimated $9,695 was spent per person in America on healthcare. That's over $24,625 in a 2-person household. A median household income of $53,657 would spend 46% of its income on healthcare. In 2010, under the Obama Administration, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) otherwise known as Obamacare was enacted to advocate that “healthcare is a right, not a privilege” and to make healthcare accessible to millions of uninsured Americans at affordable price (Rak & Coffin, 2013). According to the US Census Bureau, 49.9 million Americans were uninsured in 2010. America is the highest in cost of

The United States healthcare system has been the topic of much debate lately, with many propositions and reforms introduced to the public to remedy the many complaints made against the current system. The U.S. spend entirely too much money on health care. Based on data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the "U.S. spent more on health care per capita ($4, 849) and more than 17 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to health care" (Squires, 2012).

According the Department of Health and Human Services, total health care spending in the U.S. reached $2.3 trillion in 2008, or $7,681 per person. As a share of GDP, healthcare expenditures set a new record of 16.2 percent. That’s double the 8.1 percent share of GDP in 1975, and it is triple the 5.2 percent share of GDP in 1960. (Perry, 2010) Last year in 2012, total U.S. health care spending hit $2.807 trillion, or $8,948 per person. (Geisel, 2013) Its rate of increase has been relatively low since 2009, at

The total health care spending in the United States is expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010, and, $75 billion in 1970. To put it in context, this means that healthcare spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2012. Many consumers and small employers are struggling to afford their health insurance premiums. Some employers are not able to offer health care coverage at all. For firms with fewer than 10 employees, only 50% offered coverage to their workers in 2012.

Approximately $2.7 trillion is spent annually on health care. That is more than one-sixth of the U.S. economy that is devoted to healthcare and that fraction will continue to grow as the years go on. Regrettably, experts agree that an estimated 20 to 30 percent of the trillions spent goes to inefficient and wasteful care.

The United States (US) cost of health is higher than other countries. The population health status has improved but more work needs to be done. However, in 2007 the US spent $7,290 per capital on health care. In the early 1990’s health care spending was $714 billion by 2007 the spending was 2.2 trillion dollars (Berryman, Palmer, Kohl, & Parham, 2013).

How much does healthcare coverage cost American taxpayers and those insured? As of 2013 the US Department of Health and Human Services estimated the cost of healthcare reached $2.9 trillion dollars at a cost of $9,255 per person. So how was $2.9 trillion spent? According to the Department of Health and Human Services here the breakdown; prescriptions 9%, doctors and clinics 20%, hospital care 32%, dental and other services 7%, government

Health care expenditures in the United States are currently about 18 percent of GDP, and this share is expected to continue to rise with the share of GDP devoted to health care in the United States projected to reach 34 percent by 2040 (CEA, 2009). U.S. spending on healthcare is greater than any other developed country, yet unlike others which provide near universal coverage, the United States still has 46 million uninsured (Godell, 2008). For

In 2003, health care spending reached 1.7 trillion dollars and 1.8 trillion dollars in 2004. That is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense in this country. (California Health Care Foundation, March 02, 2005, Health care costs 101).

Before the conflict between the United States and Cuba, the two countries were strongly connected in terms of trading, with the US purchasing 87% of Cuba’s exports (CITE). However, once Fidel Castro came to power in Janurary 1959 after successfully overpowering President Batista and established Cuba as a communist state, relations became strained. In the following year, $1.8 billion US assets in Cuba were taken by Castro and the newly Communist state created close ties with the Soviet Union (CITE 2). In the year of 1963, travel and financial transactions with Cuba were both prohibited. Traverse from the United States to Cuba was made illegal on February 8, 1963 and the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, or CACR, issued economic sanctions prohibiting financial transactions with Cuba in July of that same year (CITE 2). In the year of 1977, President Jimmy Carter attempted to repair the relationship between countries by opening a “US Interests Section” in replacement of the previously closed US Embassy in Havana. Carter also began talks with Cuba.

One of the most important objectives a country faces is providing the population high quality, accessible, and affordable health care. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple due to the many challenges that health care systems encounter. According to the World Health Organization’s rankings of the World’s Health Systems, Australia and Sweden are ranked high on the list compared to the rest of the world. Both countries have an exceptional health care system that is able to provide universal care for its entire population. It’s important to take into consideration the demographic profile and socioeconomic condition of a country before reviewing their health care system as a whole since these factors can greatly affect the outcome. It’s also essential to look at the governance system in order to understand the current reform that is taking place within the country to overcome the challenges they are facing. Both have displayed outstanding achievements and they may be used as models for other countries that aim for universal healthcare.

In the year 2012, expenditure on US health care amounted to 2.8 million trillion dollars, accounting for 17.2 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the US. The annual average cost of health care for the characteristic American family of 4 amounted to more than