HCA255 Topic 6 Assignment, Healthcare Systems Essay

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U.S. Health Care System Essay Christi Carter Grand Canyon University: HCA-255 January 26th, 2020 Professor Catherine Doughty This study source was downloaded by 100000831988016 from CourseHero.co... m on 12-31-2021 10:55:09 GMT -06:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/53910759/US-Health-Care-System-Essay-CCdocx/ U.S. Health Care System Essay While most people in the United States have health insurance, one of the main goals of the Affordable Care Act was to decrease the number of uninsured people. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020, pg. 51). When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, the uninsured rate was 16.3%. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011, pp. 22–23). The Affordable Care Act did succeed in lowering the uninsured rate. In 2016 it was 8.8%. (U.S. Census Bureau). Most other developed nations have universal health coverage. The United States does not. When the ACA passed in 2010 the United States continued the practice of insurance coverage through private insurance plans. In the United States the federal, state, and local governments, institutions and individual providers are often not working together and operate as individual entities. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Most people in the United States have private insurance and receive it through their employer. This group makes up 47.3% of the population. Medicare covers 17.2%, Medicaid covers 15.2%, CHIP covers 7.3%, and ACA covers 2.9. The remaining 1.2% are identified as other, and 9% are uninsured. On average, the we spend over twice as much on health care per person when compared to other developed countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2020). Although the United States healthcare system does many things exceptionally well, it ranks at or near the end of the list with important health outcome measures like life expectancy, infant mortality, and adult obesity rates. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020).The United States has not been known for providing healthcare services in an efficient or cost-effective manner. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). The lack of universal health care makes it hard to provide a good overview of how healthcare is financed. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Canada has a national health insurance system that is funded by public taxes. The care provided is through private practitioners. (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Canada’s health care system called Medicare, but is a bit different that Medicare in the United States. Medicare in the US covers people over the age of 65 and some people with chronic disease like kidney failure. Medicare is free except it does not cover everything. One major thing that is not covered is comprehensive prescription drug insurance. Therefore people on Medicare in the United States have the option of This study source was downloaded by 100000831988016 from CourseHero.com on 12-31-2021 10:55:09 GMT -06:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/53910759/US-Health-Care-System-Essay-CCdocx/ U.S. Health Care System Essay enrolling in Medicare part D to cover prescription drugs. They also have the option of enrolling in Medicare part C which helps also with prescriptions and some services they may not receive through their part A or part B plan. In Canada, Medicare is basically universal health care. It was established through the Canadian Health Act of 1984. The Canada Health Act states that “all residents of a province or territory to be accepted for health coverage” (Canadian Health Care, 2007). There are five basic principles for this act. The principles are are public administration, universality, comprehensive coverage, portability, and uniform and reasonable access to care (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). According to the textbook, the majority of Canadians (two-thirds) purchase private health insurance (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Access to health care in Canada often reasonable and dependable, especially in major cities or populated areas. The availability of physicians depends on the number of doctors as well as the current demand for medical services. Medicare covers services such like hospital visits, primary care visits, and public health services (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Canada also has private insurance companies that fill the role of offering coverage for services that Medicare does not cover. Some examples of non-covered services are prescriptions, home health care, and institutional care (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2020). Canada’s citizens rely on private health insurance to cover vision and dental care, prescription drugs, rehabilitation care, home, and private hospitals rooms. In 2014, approximately 94 percent of premiums for private health plans were paid through employers, or other organizations under a group contract or uninsured contract. This system is very similar to how most Americans receive health insurance. (Allin & Rudoler, 2019). In contrast 67.5% of Americans are covered by private health insurance. (AIMS, 2018). [Show More]

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