United States vs South Africa Healthcare

Many would agree that a worthy, controlled health system, above all, should essentially contribute to good health. The responsibility of a health care system is that the organization of people, institutions, and resources deliver the health care services required and meet the health needs of focus populations. Another duty that the health care systems stimulate is the reduction of inequality to race, gender, social status and religion. Each health care system is different when looking at specific countries across the world, however some countries are more similar than others, such as France and Canada’s health care system. These two countries have numerous similarities when examining their health care systems, conversely that does not denote that both France and Canada are just as equivalent as the other. When observing countless aspects, such as longevity and infant mortality, as well as a lot of the inputs such as doctors or beds per capita, and of course the total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP over the year, it is seen that France has a better and more enhanced health care system than Canada.

In The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care (2009), the author of the book, T.R. Reid travels to industrialized democracies to discuss the different methods of health care delivery system used in these developed countries and compare them to the health care system of the United States. According to T.R. Reid (2009), “the thesis of this book is that we can find cost-effective ways to cover every American by borrowing ideas from foreign models of health care” (Reid, 2009, p. 11). This thesis illustrates that the American health care system can manage health care costs effectively and provide care to all by using some of the successful health care delivery models of foreign nations. The purpose of this book analysis is to discuss the four different health care models presented in this book and provide my prioritization or ranking of these models. This analysis also aims to investigate a case known as the Nikki White case described in this book and discuss the lessons learned from it. Furthermore, this analysis is going to provide my remarks on the, “An Apple a Day” comment relative to the Public Health Model. Lastly, in this book analysis, I will share my conclusion on the basic premise of the book along with my take away messages that I will remember into my future as a Public Health professional.

Providing healthcare coverage to all citizens can be challenging to many countries and only the most developed countries have adequate resources to truly provide universal coverage to their citizens. Still, when coverage and resources are not sufficient, care is rationed through limited supply or limited access. Most countries have mechanisms in place, however, to insure that affordability does not limit access to necessary services.

The dissatisfaction with managed care for some consumers has resulted in the change of some insurance plans altogether. "Significant numbers of health plans have reduced their reliance on managed care tools at a time when health insurance premiums have returned to double digit rates of growth in many markets. Faced with fewer instruments for curbing utilization and constraining provider payments, health plans have attempted to mitigate premium growth by shifting costs to consumers. These developments promise to lighten the administrative and financial burdens that managed care has imposes on physicians and hospitals, while leading consumers to

The health insurance market in the United States has been anything but competitive since the dawn of it 's existence. In many states, a single health insurance provider dominates the market, with virtually no competition (Holahan and Blumberg). In the past, before 2010, there has been no “marketplace” to compare prices for health insurance, which has contributed to ignorance in terms of finding competitive, lower prices for health insurance. Essentially, health insurance providers have been “price makers” rather than “price takers” because the demand for health insurance is relatively inelastic (as people will always get sick or get

In other economic areas, competition improves quality and efficiency, stimulates innovation, and reduces costs. Health care should be no exception. If there were more insurance company competitions, the insurance companies will decrease their premium and increase their quality, because they want more employers and individuals to buy their health insurance. Employers can compare the different insurance products, and choose the better one. The insurance premium would not create a stress on employees’ wages and providers can get better payments. Providers will be able to work with insurance companies to create price competition to lower the prices based on customer services, quality, data analysis and

The United States is the most powerful countries in the world and plays a central leadership role in the world. The U.S. health care policy is amongst the finest and many industrialized nations are laboring toughly to emulate a health care system that mimic the scheme executed by the United States. The United States of America is well known with its high-priced health care system in the globe because they expends farther than its counterparts related to the Gross Domestic product (GDP) per capita approximately “18%” (Kinckman & Kovner, 2015).

Despite being one of the best healthcare systems in the world, United States healthcare system lacks the ability to reach the poor of the country. Most of it is attributed to the high costs of healthcare facilities. Also, part of it is contributed to the complex system of healthcare developed over decades. Different stakeholders such as states, government, hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc. look out for individual profits and benefits rather than the primary consumer, the

The United States healthcare system is influenced by political climate, economic development, technological progress, social and cultural values, current health trends, and demographics. It has no central agency to run it and is financed privately. According to the textbook, employers provide 53% of total healthcare expenditures while the remaining 47% is financed by the government. In the United States, the majority of the hospitals and physician clinics are autonomous of the government. Without a central agency to monitor total healthcare expenditures the federal and state government impact the

Delivery of health care is under an imperfect market: Various providers exist with varying prices. Hence, the lower the price, the higher the demand and vice versa.

Globally, countries struggle with the challenge of providing adequate healthcare services to all their citizens. The United States spent approximately 17.6% of its GDP on healthcare in 2010, which could escalate to close to 19.6% in 2021 if cost containing measures are not put in place to control healthcare spending (The Commonwealth Fund, 2012). Even with this large amount of healthcare spending, the U.S. has almost 50 million residents without health insurance and 29 million who are underinsured (The Commonwealth Fund, 2012). Tanner (2008) estimates “total U.S. healthcare spending exceeds $1.8 trillion dollars, more than Americans spend on housing, food, national defense, or automobiles” (p.2).

Health care is a huge necessity no matter where in the world you are. However, health care in the U.S. seems to be lagging behind in many factors, like cost, quality and efficiency, compared to a few other countries like Great Britain, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. After comparing International health care and American health care reform before and after the Affordable care act, it is clear that no health care system has displayed perfection, and each one has a negative and a positive factor.

America’s health care is more expensive than other industrialized countries. A common practice among businesses to lower their costs is competition; it provides a healthy balance between businesses and consumer satisfaction. Although health care should not be a business, America has ignored the idea and importance of competition, creating the extreme prices. America’s universal healthcare

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.

Due to the apartheid regime of South Africa prior to 1994; the South African health care system has been left fragmented with the level of health care provided to the individual being based on their racial backgrounds, with the white minority