The United States And Switzerland Health Care System

In 2010, the United States created The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The objective was to share the responsibility of costs between the government, individuals, and employers to provide affordable access to quality health insurance. “However, health coverage remains fragmented, with numerous private and public sources, as well as wide gaps in insured rates across the U.S. population.” (“United States: International Health Care System Profiles,” n.d.). Each individual state within the US, generally has control over private insurance.

The United States’ health care system in comparison to the Germany health system seems to be fairly similar in many ways; however there are some major differences. One seems to be divided into public and private sectors and funded mostly by the public; Germany's, is considered better at times which tends to run differently. In the two healthcare systems, both systems are taking the time to spend quite a bit of the governmental revenue on health but still have two of the lower life expectancies. The United States faces severe challenges in access to health care, cost effectiveness, equity, and to a lesser extent in coordinating care. Meanwhile, the German system is confronted by problems in coordinating care and controlling costs.

A right to adequate healthcare is necessary for a society to flourish. According to Levinas ' explanation, businesses assume that self-interest drives human behavior and if people want health care that badly then they will pay what it costs (Degnim and Wood 2007 page 6).Yet, if someone cannot afford healthcare and are denied it, then they are being denied a human right. According to United Nations healthcare is considered a human right (United Nations Article 25 2014). Well, the denial of healthcare or inadequate healthcare for Americans is a complex problem today. Healthcare has not been accessible to all American citizens, at least not until recent changes were made to the healthcare system. On the other hand, Belgium has had universal coverage for its citizens long before America. A large part of Belgium 's healthcare is non private, unlike the USA. I will discuss the healthcare system of the USA and Belgium in terms of the four characteristics of a healthcare system: cost effectiveness, portability and choice, quality, and universal care. I will also discuss the American healthcare reform as an expansion of the former healthcare 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

Health care insurance in the U.S. is extremely competitive and not always fair. Recently in 2012, The Affordable Care Act passed by Barack Obama set new regulations regarding insurance. According to this Act, employers of 50+ employees must offer health insurance, public health insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid was made affordable for those that qualify, it is illegal for anyone to be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions, and everyone must have health insurance or they will endure tax penalties. For Medicare and Medicaid, each state has different qualifications regarding eligibility. Private health insurance is not mandatory, but many of those that can afford it prefer it because it will cover more than any government insurance. Private health insurance also offers family plans along with single plans(varying from company to company), which will definitely attract middle to high income families. Health insurance is an absolute essential in the U.S. as it is up to the citizen to obtain one that works for them.

Universal Healthcare sounds appealing, but it actually lowers the quality and quantity of healthcare services that are rendered to patients, thus downgrading the healthcare system as a whole.  Not having to pay, with everyone having coverage leads to longer wait times for medical service and many people overusing health care services. Implementation of Universal Healthcare in the United States would lead to a detrimental crippling of the nation’s health system. For those countries that have implemented Universal Healthcare or a system similar to it, all or most aspects of the coverage such as cost and care is generally provided by and tightly controlled by the government, a public-sector committee, or employer-based programs, with most of the funding essentially coming from tax revenues or budget cuts in other areas of spending. This paper will conclude with comparing the US healthcare system to others and how the US has one of the most advanced systems in the world.

The fifth country that was visited was Switzerland. Switzerland spends 11.6% of its GDP on healthcare. Citizens pay $750 a month for premiums. If you are too poor to pay for your premiums, the government will pay. Citizens pay 10% of the cost of services for a co-pay. Switzerland also used the “social insurance” model. 95% of the population already had voluntary insurance when they country switched systems. All citizens are required to have coverage. Switzerland shows that in a high capitalist nation with powerful insurance and pharmaceutical industries, universal coverage is possible. Insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit off of basic care and are not able to select only young and healthy applicants. The government sets the prices on drugs, but the insurers and providers negotiate on all other prices. Switzerland has the second most expensive system behind the U.S. The Swiss do not have gatekeepers, some insurance plans may require them or may give a discount for using them.

There have been many studies performed focusing on the rising costs of health care and some of the findings state that the rising cost of healthcare premiums is a worldwide problem. However, I believe they are higher in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. health care costs were $3.2 trillion. That makes healthcare one of the largest U.S. industries, equaling 17.8 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in comparison to the late 1960s; where healthcare costs were only $27 billion, or 5% of the GDP, which averaged $9,990 per person each year. The main reason for the rising cost of healthcare is a combination of government policies and lifestyles changes. Examples included lack of coverage or costly coverage, lack of available coverage for

The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.

The subject of health care is a sore subject, one of the most debated topics in the United States of America today and it is also the source of a vast array of complex problems for the American people. Americans have seen an increase in the rates of uninsured Americans, an increase in the cost of health care, and a growth in profits for health care companies. Due to the problematic trends that have taken place in the health care system in the United States, many Americans have viewed it as “the health care crisis” (Obamacare Facts, 2015). During the administration of President Barack Obama, a new law was implemented in order to reform the United States’ health care system called The Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare or ACA.

In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.

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.

Switzerland, officially known as the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic made up of 23 cantons. It lies in central Europe and is bordered by many different countries, which are France, Germany, Italy, and Austria. It covers a huge amount of area about 41,287 km2 Switzerland’s major city include, Berne which is the capital, also Zurich, Basle and Geneva. The country is dominated by the Jura Mountains in the northwest and the beautiful Alps, which is a big tourist attraction in Switzerland for skiing. The Cambrian Switzerland ski hotel located in Bernese Oberland region one of the world’s most spectacular mountain landscape in the south together these two areas occupy about seventy percent of the country’s area. The Rhine and Rhone rivers both gather in Switzerland, and there are many lakes, including Lake Geneva and Lake Constance. Most of the population of just over seven million lives in the valley of the Swiss Plateau, a narrow, hilly region between the two mountain ranges called Swiss alps known as the Monta Rosa, that rises four thousand six hundred and thirty four meters.

Currently, the issue of health insurance has been a bone of contention for the public regarding whether the United States government should provide this health plan or not. People often possess different perspectives and refer to pros and cons on both sides of the spectrum. While some believes a universal healthcare system will set a foundation for a lower quality of service, increasing governmental finance deficit, and higher taxes, others do not hold the same thought. A universal healthcare system brings enormous advantages rather than disadvantages, such as all-inclusive population coverage, convenient accessibility, low time cost, and affordable medical cost, all of which not only provide minimum insurance to the disadvantaged but also improve the efficiency of medical resources distribution.