United States Health Care vs. the German Health Care Essay

Germany’s healthcare system is split into two types of coverage which is public and private health insurance. Health insurance companies are not able to deny people coverage due to pre-existing illnesses or to discontinue their treatment because of high costs. The public health care insurance is provided by statute to individuals who are not eligible for private insurance which is people who are salary and make under $50,000 annually. As people age and become ill, they are able to opt out of their insurance and turn to the government’s option. As the economy continues to fluctuate, the population of Germany relies more heavily on the legislative insurance which consists of 85-90% of the population.

Germany’s and the United States’ healthcare systems compare and contrast in many ways. Germany has the third richest economy in the world and many categorize their healthcare system as socialized. Germany provides medical care to all of the citizens—young, poor, old, sick, and injured. Otto von Bismarck the Prussian chancellor in the 1880s in Germany invented the concept of healthcare systems, the notion that a government has to provide mechanisms so all its people can get medical care when they need it. In 1883, the Sickness Insurance Act was passed, representing the first social insurance program. Over the past 130 years the

Contrary to what many people believe, America’s health status is not quite “up-to-par,” to say the least. Over forty-seven million people in the United States lack health insurance; that is more than 15% of our nation’s population! At first this disturbing truth seems impossible to believe, being as America is one of the most technologically advanced and economically developed countries in the world. “We spend trillions of dollars per year on medical care. That’s nearly half of all the health dollars spent in the world. But we’ve seen our statistics. We live shorter, often sicker lives than almost every other industrialized nation. “We rank 30th in [global] life expectancy” (Adelman 2008). Knowing this brings rise to the question: why are

There are two models of healthcare that fall into the realm of universal healthcare, the Beveridge Model and the Bismarck Model. In the Beveridge model the government, which is the sole payer of the system, owns most of the hospitals and clinics (PNHP, 2010). I maintain that the United States is very unlikely to adopt this model, and

The article, “When Cutting Access to Health Care, There Is a Price to pay” in the New York Times and written by Eduardo Porter highlights the health crisis that is being experienced in the United States. This has contributed to the low economies due to low productivity since the sick people cannot work. The article states that in a research conducted by experts, the United States is ranked as having the highest mortality rate (Porter, 2017). Conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes, and infectious diseases also top in the list. Early deaths have become the norm in teenagers and young adults, due to health conditions related to obesity, chronic diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, and hypertension among others.

Historically known as the first universal healthcare system, the German healthcare system follows the Bismarck Model, which was named after the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck who invented the welfare states as part of the unification of Germany in the nineteenth century (Reid, 2009). Its pioneering law of 1883 required certain employers and employees to make payments to existing voluntary sickness funds, which would pay for the covered employees’ medical care (Reid, 2009).According to Reid (2009), this model:

In addition, health care industry can affect every living person in United State in one way or another. For instance, the uninsured are excluded from services, charged more for medical services and die when medical care could have saved them(Berkin, 2012). America is known to have some of the best doctors, and healthcare facilities in the World, however two thirds of our country do not have an access to health insurance, or cannot afford it(Berkin, 2012). The Right to Health Care notes that the United States is one of the few, if not, only, developed nation in the world that does not guarantee

American’s health care cost is notoriously high compared to other industrial countries’ health care costs. Why is this the reality? This is the question Mark Stabile et. al. argues in “Health Care Cost Containment Strategies Used in Four Other High-Income Countries Lessons For the United States.” Although the other four countries— Switzerland, UK, Germany and France—are not perfect, they have cost-containment strategies that the U.S. could replicate. The main goals are that the U.S. needs better cost-effective measurements, an increase in negotiating powers with providers and pharmaceutical companies, and more uniform prices for the same services. The question then becomes how will the U.S. accomplish these goals?

According to Squires and Chloe, the United States of America is considered as the greatest country in the world, with the largest economy, military powers, freedom of religion and speech, and one of the most successful democrats (2). However, the United States in the only western modernized nation that does not offer free healthcare services to all its citizens. Apparently, the costs of the healthcare services to the uninsured individuals in the US are prohibitive, where the insurance companies are interested in making higher profit margins than providing adequate health care to the insured (Squires and Chloe 4). These conditions are unexpectable and incompatible with the United States

The United States' healthcare system in contrast with the German healthcare system seems to be the same; however, there are some real contrasts. The United States is divided into public and private areas and financed for the most part by people in the public; Germanys is viewed as better in the two social healthcare. The two healthcare are setting aside the opportunity to spend a lot of the administrative income on wellbeing. The United States faces extreme difficulties in access to the system, cost adequacy, and value. In the meantime, the German system is gone up against by issues in planning care and controlling expenses.

Germany’s healthcare system is ranked number 5 out of 11. Germany’s healthcare system gives individuals the choice on whether they want to be insured. Their health system is “called dual system which contains a compulsory insurance and a private insurance”. The motto to this system is that everyone must pay for those needing help. Those who are injured, sick, or whatever the circumstance is will receive money. If you make more money you will be asked to be pay more from your insurance company, this is compulsory insurance. For those who can’t afford medical coverage they will get covered by an insurance company at a small amount. Basically in order to get coverage you have to put in some money to receive health care. Some insurance companies do this in the United States but

In doing this research, we are comparing three of the most industrialized countries: Canada, Germany, and The United States. The first part will give a brief, but detailed description of the healthcare systems, while the second part will compare and analyze the three countries that are listed above. What changes have taken place and other future reforms for the two? Although the three do not agree much, the one thing they do agree on does not want one another healthcare systems. Majority of Americans do not know too much about Canada or Germany system and likewise for the Canadians and Germans.

The United States is the only developed country that does not cover its citizen’s health coverage. In 2010, it is estimated that 50 million people are uninsured and other 30 million people are underinsured. Health care providers charge high prices to insurance companies and these prices are compensated through increased premiums. The health care services are unaffordable for most people.

The German healthcare system can be traced back to the 1883, when Prince Otto Von Bismark passed a health insurance bill into a law. The German healthcare model is still known as the “Bismark Model” today (Khazan, 2014). There are many differences between the healthcare systems in the United States and in Germany. The German healthcare system does have some drawbacks; however, its many advantages rank it as one of top countries

Although Otto von Bismark developed the first universal health care system in Germany during the late 1800’s, the country did not require citizens to have health insurance until 2009 (Green, 1). The German Parliament and Federal Ministry of Health offer federal governance of the healthcare system, while the German Federal Joint Committee (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss) monitors the quality of SHI services (Armstrong, 152). Germany’s health care system is now divided into two systems: