An Analysis of the US and Australian Health Insurance Programs - Research Paper Example

An analysis of the US Medicaid and Medicare program and the Australian Medicare programsThe United States Medicare program is a social insurance program administered by the federal government that provides health insurance cover to people who are over the age of 65 (HHS) and are permanently physically disabled or those who have a hereditary physical disability or those who meet specified special criteria (CMS). The Medicaid program on the other hand is the nation’s long term public health insurance program for the low income people in the United States.

It is a joint initiative funded by the federal government and the states (Kaisser).The two programs mentioned above form the basis for the American health care system including the private sector.The Australian Medicare program is the Australia’s public health care system that is operated by the government agency authority, the Medicare Australia. The program is intended to provide affordable treatment for all residents in the public hospitals except those on Norfolk Island (AHS). It is funded by the federal government and Medibank, the Australian Universal health insurance (Biggs).

The above mentioned programs represent health care systems found in various countries i.e. the United States and Australia. The idea behind choosing the above programs is the similarities that exist between the two systems. The entire operation of the two programs is basically the same but there exist astonishing facts and revelations concerning the operations of the program in the United States. Many scholars have compared the two systems and found surprising data that is of concern.Statistic show that Australia spends an average of 8.

7 percent of its GDP on supporting health and this covers all residents in Australia irrespective of their employment status (Coory). The American government on the other hand spends 17.6% of its GDP on healthcare (CMS) and this is far much more than any industrialized country and 47 million citizens still lack health insurance while millions of others are underinsured (Mascarenhas). This is a damning statistic which asks for a deeper analysis. The second issue is that the American Medicaid program only covers those above the age of 65 while the rest have to look for alternative private health treatment (Mascarenhas).

On the other hand the Australian one covers all the individuals including the well off in society who are entitled to subsidized medical cover with the government paying a certain percentage of it (AHS). Although the Medicaid program is available in the US to cater for the low income earners, their exist restrictions on who is eligible for that kind of health care program. This leaves most of the population uninsured with many opting for private treatment which is costly and most are unable to afford these costs (HJK).

Although their exist some strength s associated with the US Medicare program it is still way back below the Australian Medicare program that covers everyone. The strengths lie in the short waiting time for surgery patients and other patients with chronic complications (Mascarenhas). On the other hand the Australian program has a long waiting list and this is one of its problems. Despite all it is better to wait for a long time and be served than to be completely denied the service. The greatest strength in the Australian program is affordability and access and this is lacking in the American programs (DHAC).

Works CitedAHS. "How does Medicare Work." 18 March 2010. Medicare Australia. 24 October 2011 .Biggs, Amanda. "Medicare Background Brief." 22 April 2005. Parliamentary Library of Australia. 24 October 2011 .CMS. "Medicare and Home health care." May 2010. US. Department of Health and Human Services: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 24 October 2011 .—. National Health Expenditure Data: NHE Fact sheet. 6 June 2009. 24 October 2011 .Coory, Michael D. "Ageing and Healthcare costs in Australia: a Cses of policy based Evidence.

" The Medical Journal of Australia (2004): 180(11):581-583.DHAC. "The Australian Health care System." September 2000. Department of Health and Aged care. 24 October 2011 .HHS. "Health Insurance Reform and Medicare." 2010. Health Reform. 24 October 2011 .HJK. "Health care Costs: a Premier key information on health care costs and their Impacts." March 2009. Henry J. Kaisser Foundation. 24 October 2011 .Kaisser. "The Medicaid: A Premier." July 2005. The Kaisser Commission . 24 October 2011 .Mascarenhas, Alan.

Global Post. 30 May 2010. 25 October 2011 .