U.s. Health Care System Essay

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").

In The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, T.R. Reid, a Washington Post reporter and NPR commentator, compares the United States’ health care system to the systems of other industrialized democracies. In this journey, he analyzes costs, quality, and overall functioning of the different systems. Through his first hand experiences around the globe, Reid illustrates a variety of systems, emphasizing the changes America needs.

In the United States the quality of health care that people receive changes in accordance to the region and is more than often just not sufficient. Because of the lacking care among these hospitals, federal policy makers and private organizations have put in motion a very important program that will collect and publicly report that gathered data on the quality of health care

In the United States the quality of health care that people receive changes in accordance to the region and is more than often just not sufficient. Because of the lacking care among these hospitals, federal policy makers and private organizations have put in motion a very important program that will collect and publicly report that gathered data on the quality of health care that the American people are getting. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of

Gallup, a public opinion website, took a poll November 7-10, 2013 regarding American’s public opinion regarding healthcare. Overall, the results produced were positive, “while 69% of Americans rate their personal healthcare coverage as excellent or good, only 32% rate healthcare coverage in the country this highly” (Newport, p. 1). Gallup indicated that this rise in opinion was based off the election of President Obama for his second term and the upcoming promise of affordable health care for everyone. The satisfaction of healthcare system stemmed from approximately “eight in 10 Americans (79%) rate the quality of healthcare they personally receive as excellent or good…”(Newport, p.1). At the time, this public opinion focused solely on

In this paper, the USA healthcare system is being compared to the Canadian healthcare system. The U.S. health system has been described as the most competitive, heterogeneous, and inefficient, fragmented, and advanced system of care in the

In terms of where America stands on medicine today, despite having the most expensive health care system, it lacks quality and efficiency in all voluntary measures. According to an op-ed on The New York Times newspaper it states, "… this country lags well behind other advanced nations in delivering timely and effective care." Essentially, what this does is shift health care systems' center of focus [patient engagement] to acute care, where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for severe injuries or illnesses. With that being said, the only thing left with a chance of hope is the betterment of national doctors to make that change —— change for a better health system. Those that are interested in the well-being of others, including themselves, by following these simple steps it will open up a path to become a phenomenal doctor.

With incredibly high costs and a lack of high quality care, the multitier healthcare system of the United States has several major flaws. The system we have established has proven to no longer be practical in most, if not all major areas. Improvement initiatives (i.e. Oregon Health Plan, Leapfrog, Lean Manufacturing, and Pay-for-Performance) have been implemented into the current system, and all of them are under experimental measures to determine if they can bring pressure off of the healthcare system. With the increasing support for universal health coverage in order to decrease health disparities in the country, the current quality initiatives seem to be the best ways to improve the quality of care, reduce costs, and increase equality in healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to scope this social problem over the last 30-50 years and carefully examine and predict future problems that may arise if the system is not corrected promptly (Pushman & Chung, 2009).

Many would argue that here, in the United States, we have the best healthcare in the world. We benefit from the most up to date medical technologies, medications, and services. People come from every corner of the world to take advantage of our top notch physicians and facilities. But is this reputation warranted, and if so, at what cost? The average annual cost per US resident is $7,681; this comprises 16.2% of our gross domestic product. These costs rank us among the highest of industrialized nations (Lundy, 2010). Does this high expenditure equate to better outcomes? According to the National Scorecard on US Health System Performance (2008), the US received a 65 out of 100 possible points.

There are no concrete facts to support the researchers’ claims. Different ideas have been exhibited by policy-makers, health care experts and providers as to which healthcare aspects signify its quality and which are the most important ones (Greener, 2009). This study examines the evidence on the quality of healthcare in the USA and how it compares to the quality of healthcare in the UK. The study will also touch on the implications of the evidence for the health reform agenda (Jackson, 2012). This paper will explore how the quality of healthcare in the USA and the UK and address the concerns that people have about health reforms. The paper will compare the ratings of the two countries’ healthcare systems internationally. For instance, if the examined claims that the USA has the best quality of healthcare services, whether it is in overall terms or in some specific fields, and find that they are well supported by the evidence, it would warn citizens of the country against the adoption of some forms of health reforms that hinder those attributes of a health system that are responsible for this reasoning (Jackson, 2012). But if the healthcare quality is not at a remarkable condition, there should be no reluctance to implementing change. Overall, more need for explicit for health care reforms is needed to address the quality improvement will be warranted (Bhattacharya et al.

The U. S. health system is dependent on these components in order to provide quality care for the population. According to Cantor et al. (2007) “A scorecard from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System gives the U. S. healthcare system an overall score of 66%, out of a 100% for top performance. The World Health Organization (2006) states, “the United States ranks thirty-first among nations on life expectancy, thirty-sixth on infant mortality, twenty-eighth on male healthy life expectancy, and twenty-nine on female health life expectancy.”

As citizens of the United States, we are used to the best. The best technology, the best doctors, and the best healthcare. Unfortunately, we have become so conditioned to receiving the best, that we expect nothing less, regardless of the cost. This has resulted in a nation that, in 2013, spent 17.1 percent of its annual GDP on healthcare, as compared to the Netherlands who spent approximately 12.9 percent on healthcare (World Health Organization). This is a growing problem that must be addressed as healthcare is a finite commodity that we must allocate efficiently if we wish to maximize both lives and dollars saved. “After all, every dollar spent on healthcare is one not spent on education, infrastructure, or defense (Tanner).” Several key healthcare costs that can be attributed to the large amount of spending include an over-diagnosing of prostate and breast cancer, the desire for the newest, more expensive technology despite a lack of evidence that it is more effective, and individuals not properly weighing their costs and benefits. If we can manage to reduce spending as a result of these issues, our country may be able to drastically reduce spending on healthcare and get back on par with the rest of the world.

Living in the United States of America, it is currently common to hear of how our healthcare system compares to other countries. In the past, snippets would be shared on occasion on the internet and in the news about the highlights and lowlights of the United States Healthcare system. Presidents all the way back to Theodore Roosevelt would bring it up as important matter to tackle for the nation but it wasn’t until President Barak Obama was campaigning that American’s really started to see the possibility of a solution. We took notice to the vast differences in our healthcare system, especially when compared to our neighbors to the north, Canada. In the past 8 years, more and more American’s have come to realize that our system did have some areas in which we are severely lacking.

There is a famous saying from Virgil, an English poet that states “the greatest wealth is health”. One’s health and ability to stay healthy, is what enables a person to live a promising life filled with enjoyable experiences, and cherished memories. However, illness is inevitable, and when it strikes, health care systems are ultimately where people turn for treatment. Health care systems, whether private or public, provide tremendous aid and assistance to patients in need. Nevertheless, there are problems with public and private health care systems that impact their ability to run efficiently and effectively. The public health care system’s rising costs, extended wait times, and failure to adopt new technology, are key problems that impact the systems effectiveness. The private health care system’s need to make a profit, high costs to citizens, and poor structure, are issues that affect the systems performance. Solving these previously stated problems in both systems, would allow for more individuals to be seen and receive the care they require.

In the United States, measuring and monitoring the quality of care has been reported to be lacking, given the immensity of this country’s health care sector (Schuster, McGlynn, &