Let's get started. Our next class focuses on the U.S. health care system to give us a point of reference as we start to explore international health system issues. We'll go over how it originated, how we got to where we are today, what it looks like today, and what works and doesn't.
But, importantly, I want us all to hit the ground running by having at least a basic working knowledge of several other health care systems, just in order to be able to see how different the U.S. system is.
I would highly recommend that you take an hour or so to watch an episode of Frontline (on PBS) that is a nice, brief documentary on the U.S. health care system in relationship to the health systems of five other countries: the U.K., Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. It is available at the following link below and can be watched for free in sections.
My question for you is, having seen a little snippet of other systems, why do you think the U.S. (one of the richest nations in the world) allows 15.3% of its population to be uninsured?
-Dr. Stevens
p.s. Did you remember to sign up for the e-newsletters from the various policy organizations?
4 comments:
Compare to other developed nation's health care systems, it is obvious that U.S. systems is a market-based system. Without government regulations on costs, the price for treatment and delivery of health care is very high. The outcome is paid by its own citizens going bankrupt every year on health care systems alone.
Besides government's regulations, why is the cost so high? The cost is largely incorporated in admistrative costs, such as paper work and the time to process each patient's record.
U.S. government originally thought market-based industry will help reduce the price, like the phone or cell-phone industries. In reality, the health care industry is more complicated than it was once thought.
In contrary, market-based industry is good for some reasons. It allows health care providers to compete for better services. Hospitals can come up with their own strategies to reduce waiting time, increase customer services, and other health promoting programs. Kaiser Permanente has developed an electronic system that reduces paper work and yet allow doctors to view patient's record/ doctor visits accurately without going through questionnaire.
Overall, comparing U.S. health care systems to others, it is weak in providing effective and sufficent health care to citizens. Without U.S. govenment intervention on regulation of the price and changing the health policy, we citizens will continue paying the price.
So I watched the frontline piece on international health care systems and found it quite thought provoking as well as revealing about what I interpret to be the American psyche.
First of all I noticed that there were some common themes among the different health care systems being analyzed. One, health care was not seen as a for profit enterprise in any of the countries. Two, no body was denied health care in any of the systems be they private or government funded. Three, doctors were not paid particularly well. Four, it was unanimous that nobody went broke or was put in undue financial burden because of medical bills. And five, both the GDP spent on healthcare and the administrative cost seemed to be around 8%.
While these are all lessons that we as Americans should take when looking to reform our health care system, I learned both by listening to the frontline correspondent and by thinking about it myself that many of these changes would not be accepted by the American People. In order to incorporate any of the ideas presented in the frontline piece the government would have to step in and play a more active role in healthcare. Whether it be providing the healthcare (UK) or mandating that people register for health care (Japan) or fixing the prices of medical procedures (Japan, Taiwan, Germany), the government needs to step in and the American people are not ready for that kind of oversight. To make these systems possible in the United States would also need to involve a paradigm shift in which the American business world can view healthcare as a necessary not for profit entity which needs to exist. Because we have a for-profit system, the bigger companies deny those who they deem as not profitable and this is where we get the 15.3% of un-insured Americans. The government does not yet see it as their responsibility to provide health care to everyone. In my opinion this could be done if we cut the overhead going to administration which is a staggering 22%! Taiwan has instituted smart cards which have all the relevant information on them and has cut the administrative fees dramatically.
To answer the question more directly, the U.S has allowed the un-insured rate to climb so high because we as a society are market based capitalists and the health care providers as well as the medical personnel like to be making money even if it is at the expense of the un insured. In fact we are making so much profit here that the Swiss drug companies make a third of their profit from American health care! Until we have a major paradigm shift in this country we will continue to allow the current un-insured rate.
After watching the frontline episode on health care systems, I came to the conclusion that the U.S. will not be able to improve its health care system unless we change the population's materialistic views. Our society has embedded a strong competitive and materialistic attitude in most of its inhabitants which has led to individuals who are only worried about themselves and their own well-being. People only care about money and how one can make more of it. Unfortunately, this type of attitude leaves those who cannot make enough money out of the equation and without insurance. Because of our competive attitude, we fail to realize that it is our responsability to help those in need; in this case those without insurance. If the health care system was not blinded by money, then we would be able to find different ways to provide insurance to the whole US population.
Another reason why only 15.3% are uninsured is that our society does not value health as much as we value sports and celebrities. Most people in the United States worry more about buying the next best cell phone or car instead of worrying about their cholesterol and blood pressure. Most people who are aware of their health are those who can afford insurance, organic food, and private yoga classes. Sadly, our new health trend has nothing to do with the well-being of the population but with new ways of getting people to spend more money and obsess with their weights. Our society needs to understand the importance every individual has on the economy and that is why we need our population to improve their health conditions so that we close the great gap that separates the rich from the poor and we can all afford to be healthy.
Post a Comment