US Healthcare System vs Canada's Healthcare System - Essay Example

? US health care system vs. Canada's health care system Health care systems in most developed countries have developed into a complicated network involving the healthcare consumers and the service providers. These systems have evolved over a period of time to serve the requirements of their respective countries. Both USA and Canada spend a considerable amount of their resources on their respective healthcare system. While the healthcare network in USA is operated with the help of both public and private resources, the same in Canada is mainly directed by the Government. This paper attempts to enumerate the strengths and weaknesses of the healthcare systems in the two countries and also present a comparison between the two. (Moore & Spiegel 2004 p188) Literature Review There is a considerable amount of literature which deals with the healthcare systems of USA and Canada. This paper has taken the help of the following sources. Niles (2010) in her book gives a description of the basic features of the US Healthcare system. The author also presents a brief historical account of each of the components of the healthcare network of the country. In their book, Moore and Spiegel (2004) discuss the characteristics of the healthcare systems of different developed countries and how they have developed to suit the specific requirements of the nations. Atlas and Epstein (2010) gives a present account of how the American health care system is often compared to its Canadian counterpart. The authors examine the arguments behind the USA following the principles of Canada’s health care system and applying it to its own system. The IMF in its report of 2008 reviews the Canadian economy and presents important facts about the country’s health care facilities. Canada’s health care system is compared with those of the other OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Finally Lemco (1994) compares and contrasts the healthcare systems in USA and Canada using results of a survey conducted among the countries’ citizens. Analysis and Discussion The US Healthcare System- strengths and weaknesses The USA usually spends the maximum amount of money on its healthcare facilities among all the countries in the world. In 2006, the country’s spending on healthcare totalled $ 2 trillion, which was the highest in the world. The US Health care system is a complicated network which mainly comprises of the Medical Education System, the Hospital System, the Public Health System and the Health Insurance System. There are both public and private resources operating in the system. The country provides healthcare facilities to its citizens who are covered under a health insurance program or are entitled to such facilities through a public program. (Niles 2010 p1) The US consumers and the healthcare service providers are the most important components of the country’s healthcare system. The consumers are provided quality healthcare services by the Government programs, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies and laboratories engaged in medical science research. All these institutions also support the healthcare service providers so that they are able to provide the adequate services to the consumers. Apart from this, there are professional associations, organizations engaged in research and institutions which impart medical training facilities which are also associated with the US healthcare system although they do not always influence the network directly. The healthcare system in USA provides the latest facilities to the citizens and uses updated medical technology to treat its patients. The country has designed public programs especially for its elderly and disabled population: the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. The US Healthcare System is the world’s most expensive system of healthcare and the cost related to US healthcare is expected to increase in the future. This is the major weakness of the system. Although the USA has a huge expenditure on its healthcare, its Healthcare Insurance system does not provide universal coverage to all its citizens, like the other developed countries of the world. In 2007, there were more than 47 million US citizens who were not covered by healthcare insurance. The recession in the US economy was expected to bring about an increase in the number of uninsured US citizens. Experts have formulated a reform policy to address the major issues related to US healthcare and improve the overall system. (Niles 2010 p1, Moore and Spiegel 2004 p188) The Canadian Healthcare System – strengths and weaknesses The delivery as well as the funding of the healthcare system in Canada is primarily done by the Canadian Government. The Government itself determines the expenditure on the health care system and the extent of privatization of the network. A large number of public hospitals provide healthcare facilities to the Canadian citizens. There are some private surgical clinics also, but they play an insignificant role in comparison to the public hospitals. The provincial governments through their insurance programs provide the funding of the medical physicians who are mainly private contractors. The Physicians are not allowed to be funded by private sources. Even the Health Insurance System in the country is run by the Government. (Atlas, Epstein 2010 p8) The biggest strength of the Canadian nationalized healthcare system is that it aims in providing basic health care facilities to all the citizens of the country. The provincial governments of Canada are the principal source of funding for the services of the physicians and the hospitals. This can pose as a weakness. They also enjoy a monopoly in providing insurance services to the citizens. The private organizations are not encouraged to operate in this sector. The provincial governments provide insurance for dental health care and medicines acquired out of the hospitals only for the elderly population and citizens belonging to the low income group. This leaves many Canadians to finance their own insurance or to seek it from their respective employers. (Atlas, & Epstein, 2010, p.8) Comparison of the two Healthcare Systems The US Healthcare System comprises of both public and private resources which provide support to the primary healthcare providers. This is a common feature of the healthcare system of most developed economies. On the other hand Canada’s system is monopolized by the presence of the government both in rendering health care facilities and in providing health insurance to the citizens. Private organizations play an insignificant role in the functioning of the health care network of the country. Even the health insurance system in Canada is fully nationalized and the provincial governments are responsible for providing insurance to the citizens. Alternatively, in the USA, there are several private companies which extend insurance cover to the health consumers. Experts in the USA have often suggested nationalizing the health insurance system of the country following the example of Canada. Noting a point of similarity, both the USA and Canada allocate a sizeable portion of their Government spending to healthcare. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), among the OECD countries (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), both the United States and Canada spend the highest amount on their respective healthcare services. (IMF 2008 p.23) While engaging in a comparison of the two healthcare systems it is also important to analyze their impacts on the common citizens of the two countries. In a survey conducted by the Loius Harris and Associates in 1989, it was revealed that the average citizen preferred the Canadian Healthcare system over its US counterpart. When the income earning population of USA and Canada were studied, it was noticed that the lowest 20% of the income earners in both the countries distributed lower than 5% of the total income of society among themselves. In such a scenario, Canada’s nationalized health care system provided basic medical facilities to the population whereas a large number of the US citizens were not even covered by health insurance. This situation persists in the USA even in the present times. (Lemco 1994 p169) Conclusion The Healthcare systems in the USA and Canada both have their strengths and weaknesses. From the point of view of a private healthcare organization, operating in the US healthcare network would prove to be more profitable since the country unlike Canada encourages private participation in the healthcare sector. However, to the average citizen, the Canadian nationalized healthcare system is more beneficial since it ensures the provision of the basic medical facilities to all the citizens. References 1. Atlas S W, Epstein R A (2010) Reforming America’s Health Care System: The Flawed Vision of Obama Care USA Hoover Institution Press 2. International Monetary Fund (2008) Canada: Selected Issues Washington DC International Monetary Fund 3. Lemco J (1994) National health care: Lessons for the United States and Canada USA University of the Michigan Press 4. Moore R J, Spiegel D (2004) Cancer Culture and Communication New York Plenum Publishers 5. Niles N (2010) Basics of the US Healthcare System Sudbury Jones and Bartlett Publishers Read More