rhianna

.  //**Hi my name is Rhianna Sequeira. I am currently in my second year doing a double major in Industrial Relations and CCIT. I enjoy watching movies, reading ,swimming and listening to music**//

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** Rhianna Sequeira February, 4th 2009 CCT205 Tutorial: 5-6p.m Professor: Michael Jones **
 * United States: public-private health care

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United States: Public-Private Health Care System Health Care is the services and various supplies made available to an individual residing in a state. Individuals in a society may use the health care system for various reasons such as curing illnesses or preventing future illnesses. The goal of providing health care in a state is to improve as well as sustain the health of the citizens. It is the duty of the state to provide institutions and services that will help the citizens live a secure, comfortable and healthy life. This aspect is taken care by the municipal and provincial governments in a universal health care system. Distinctively the United States does not follow this structure of Private health care system but has a unique kind. Each country deals with the health care system on a different level. It is the quality and the effectiveness of the system that matters not the different systems used. Although the systems used in order to achieve the results are extremely significant in analyzing the outcomes produced. It is imperative to examine the outcomes of the systems used. It is crucial to understand and evaluate, the structure on which it is based, the mortality rate in each country as a result of the health care system used and the outcomes that it brings.


 * The structure of the American health care system**

In order to build something great it is always important to have a strong and steady foundation. As for the United States, it has a slightly distinctive approach when it comes to the Health Care system. In the United States the, “health care system is a patchwork of private and public coverage resulting in huge gaps and no underlying safety net.”(Devi 2005, 6)What is meant by that statement is that the United States does not provide health insurance to all of its citizens; the insurance coverage is based on certain factors. Some of these factors include employment, age, military, veterans and the disabled. Thus, this leaves a gap between the population of the United States which excludes many citizens from this health care policy. Subsequently, it creates a social distinction between the wealthy and the working class. Unfortunately, this creates major inequalities in accessing health care as, “Research has repeatedly shown that the lack of insurance ultimately compromises a persons’ health because they are less likely to receive preventive care.”(Devi, 2005)People who are not provided with health care by their employers, who are not sixty five years of age or over, or who are not funded with government programs are left to purchase health insurance all by themselves. These costs are exceedingly high and result in many people having to continue without any health insurance.


 * Statistics and mortality rate as a result of a poor health care system**

The best way to observe whether or not a system or the plan of action has reached success is to examine and analyze the statistics. The outcome of the health care system in place can be examined through the mortality rates in that particular country. In examining the mortality rate of the Unites States, it will become evident that the mortality rate has a correlation with the quality of the health care provided. To begin with, since not everyone in the United States has health insurance coverage, “people are more likely to forego needed health care due to cost concerns”(Hyatsville,2006).Health insurance surely does act as a determinant when it comes to the accessibility of health care. It is said that, “Uninsured children and adults under 65 years of age are substantially less likely to have a usual source of health care or a recent health care visit than their insured counterparts.”(Hyatsville, 2006). Thus this shows a profound relationship between the accessibility of health care and mortality rates increasing in the United States. Since most people are paying for medical expenses out of their own pockets, for the average family this could turn out to be quite a burden financially. The United States, “ is by far the most expensive health care system in the world”(University of Maine) .Many parents are quitting their jobs in order for their children to qualify for health insurance. This is definitely not a very good sign for the United States as well as for the economy. In the United States, “life expectancy stood at 77.2 years, below the OECD average of 77.8 years” (Chua, 2006). According to the annual social and economic Supplement, “15.6 percent were without health insurance” in the year of 2003(Bandari, 2006, 1).This may not seem like a huge percentage but when it involves the health of an individual each life is considered very precious. The ordinal ranking of death rates in the United States in 1995 turned out to be a high of 111(Bourbeau, 2002, 20 table3a). Research has proven that, “having health insurance would reduce mortality rates for the uninsured by 10-15 percent.”(Devi, 2005) For instance if a child suffered from asthma and required medication throughout his or her life time just the cost of one controller inhaler is said to be over a hundred dollars a month. This would account to almost $1200 and over the period of a year. Since medication is an inelastic good many drug companies are tempted to drive up prices leaving the patients to buy these drugs that are highly priced which can be done due to the fact that it is not under the control of the government. Many people therefore abandon their need for such medications leading to more severe problems and ending up in extremely critical conditions and eventually death.

Since patients are not paying out of their pockets for hospital treatment many times they are put on waiting lists when it comes to medical technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), or even special kinds of heart surgeries that require skilled doctors in the universal health care system. This is not a problem that the people of the United States have to face. Since each individual is paying for his or her treatment, there is no need for patients to be put on long waiting list. As long as the fee is paid the treatment will be made available for the patient. Another positive outcome in the private health care system is the freedom of choice to choose one’s treatment venue. Individuals are not restricted to anyone venue of treatment and therefore have a variety of choices. From the governments perspective there is more accessibility for citizens and the government due to lesser strain on its resources. Consequently the government has more funds for devoting to other resources.
 * Positive side of a private health care system**

Thus, the American health care system creates a distinction between society. It creates a social tone in the lives of the working poor or even the middle class individuals. Many people who are under the universal health care system may take this for granted whilst there are people for whom this issue is an omnipresent matter. Having a private health care system does come with its fair share of advantages and setbacks. The WHO released a report in 2000 in which there were three primary factors that need to be met in a “good” health care system. The three factors included good health, responsiveness and fairness in financing. In order to achieve this other models need to be discovered along with the help of policy makers. Health care is a phenomenal aspect in the well being of a nation. After all, it is the citizens of a state that make a nation; therefore it is the states responsibility to keep its citizens active, healthy and satisfied.

Bibliography

Benedict Irvine, Shannon Ferguson and Ben Cackett. Background Briefing: The Canadian Health Care System. 2005.

Bhandari .S. Health Status, Health Insurance, and Health Services Utilization U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S.CENSUS BUREAU : Washington D.C.2001

Bourbeau .R Canadian Mortality in Perspective: A Comparison with the United States and other Developed Countries. Canadian Studies in Population, Vol. 29.2, 2002,pp.313-369

Chua.K et. Fellow .J Overview of the U.S. Health Care System. 2005

Devi .S. Inequality in the United States Healthcare System. Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford , 2005.

Hyatsville. Health, United States, 2006 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans MD: 2006

Szick .S ,et al. Health Care Delivery in Canada andThe United States: Are There Relevant Differences in Health Care Outcomes? June 1999 ,Pub. No. 99-04-TR

The US health care system:Best in the world or just the most expensive? Http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf. 2001. The University of Maine. 3 Feb. 2009 