United States Healthcare System versus Italy Healthcare System Compare and Contrasting - Essay Example

US HealthCare System versus Italy Health Care College: US HealthCare System versus Italy Health Care Introduction The health care system is a core facility for any given country that puts the human welfare as a priority in the government agenda. However, it is indisputable that government in different states contributes differently in the wellbeing of the health care system as part of their role of ensuring stability in the health system. Consequently, the efficiency of health care facilities in different countries will be determined by the political forces that exist in it and the kind of policies that govern the health system.

Significant determiners of the efficiency of a health system include financing, insurance policies, administration, accessibility, cost and availability of medical professionals. The essence of this essay is to compare and contrast the health care system in the US and Italy. Health Statistics and Cost The cost of a health care facility in a country is a matter of concern in a country as it determines the affordability of health care facility to the public. In Italy, high tax policies are used to guarantee a government funded health care facilities which ensure that any citizen in this state has a fundamental right to free health care as long as they possess a health care card.

The Italian government contributes about 10% of its GDP to the health sector to improve hospitals conditions in this country. Statistics indicate that US medical cost continues to increase over time and affordability concerns are already hitting the nationalists (Ferrari, 2012). Despite a high spending in the health sector that amounted to 15.3% of the GDP and per capita expenditures of $6, 100, US citizens have to pay high costs to access medical services. The morality rate in US in 2004 was 8.

25 per a thousand individuals and the life expectancy was between 75 and 80 years, rates which are slightly below the situation in Italy. It is surprising that Italy health care system has been rated as the second best in the world as far as the cost of medical care is concerned. Health Care Financing Health care services are highly funded by the US government in the yearly budget allocation in an attempt to reduce the cost of medical care in the public sector. On the other hand, the better part of the health care expenses in Italy is provided by an income tax of 50% that each employed person has to remit.

In both states, private health care facilities are alternative health access facilities that are financed by their owners. The private sickbays are often more expensive than the public clinics and consequently have a lesser public attraction. Surprisingly, the US government has not managed yet to reduce the cost of its public health services despite the fact that 20% of its budget allocation goes to this docket (Ferrari, 2012). Health Care Administration In the US, the health care system is the most regulated sectors with a lot of control from various regulating bodies; the department of Health and human services (DHSS) is one of the major regulating bodies that are concerned with standardization of the human health welfare.

The Center for Disease control and prevention contributes to the formulation of health standards that are geared towards achieving high quality health services. In Italy, the ministry of health regulates the health service providers by imposing regulations that must be adhered to. In addition, this body also protects human rights especially in public hospitals to ensure that their safety and fair treatment while accessing such facilities is guaranteed. In both states, the administration bodies are involved in setting up the standards of health care and in regulation of professionals in that field (Ferrari, 2012).

However, US health care seems to be more regulated, as indicated by numerous governing bodies, as compared to the Italy health sector. Health care Personnel and Facilities In terms of infrastructure and health care facilities, the US seems to be more equipped more than the Italian hospitals. The US health system has capitalized on sophisticated health care facilities as part of optimism in the provision of quality medical facilities and its endeavor to become the world’s best medical provider.

The greater part of the heavy budget allocation to the health sector is utilized to purchase medical equipment and in hiring of health profession experts. The long queues in the public health sectors in Italy signify a shortage in both medical equipment and health professionals in the country. The shortage of health professional in Italy public health sector has greatly affected this country making the society to resort to private care facilities as an alternative health solution. In this regard, the US health sector is superior to the Italian health sector in terms of medical personnel and health facilities (Ferrari, 2012).

Access and Inequality Issues In both US and Italy, public health care facilities are less satisfying than the private sectors due to the high number of citizens who prefer to access cheap medical services offered by the government. However, this problem is more severe in Italy where many people end up seeking treatment in the private sector due to long queues that characterize the scanty public hospitals. Medical insurance in the US provides is provided by the private organizations at very high prices and is associated with the elite class in this state as many prefer to forego it.

The middle class of the society seems to be discriminated by these expensive insurance policies and hence this class of individuals has to meet their medical costs each time they visit a health facility (Ferrari, 2012). The tax policy in the Italian system ensures that each individual is covered by the insurance policy and the cost of medical service is met by this policy. However, long queues and poor quality services push the Italian citizens to acquire private insurance policies to cover their emergency treatments.

References Ferrari, G., (2012). Italian Health Care System Versus the US Health Care system. Retrieved from: < http://www.lifeinitaly.com/lifestyle/medical-system> Global Health in Developed Societies: United State. Retrieved from: