Question from Comparative Public Health Area - Coursework Example

Running head: Public health Comparative Public Health Health care reform is one of the hottest topics in US today. US health care system is one of the most expensive health care systems in the world. Though private and public spending on health care system is more in United States, recent studies has shown that the use of health care services in the U.S. is below the world average. This paper compares US health care system (Free market) with the Canadian health care system (Universal) and identifies certain measures to reform the existing system in US. Introduction Health care of the public is one of the basic responsibilities of any elected governments. The health care policies should not provide agony to the public. It should be formulated keeping the public and their interests at the main focus. Access, fairness, efficiency, cost, and quality of the health care system must consider the people’s interest rather than anything else. Majority of the developed countries like Canada, and Britain are following a universal health care program mostly controlled by a single agency public or private appointed by the government. But United States is the only developed country which follows a free market philosophy in health care sector which is a hot debated topic in United States now because of the practical problems people facing in getting proper health care. Free market Public health care system in United States During the long period from 1965 to 1987, the actual time path of real per-capita health spending virtually coincided with the long-run trend line, almost as if the annual increase in real per capita health spending were a natural constant: 4.5%. The providers of health care recall this era as the Golden Age of American Medicine. But as the economy began to prosper in the 1990’s the number of Americans under the age 65 without any health insurance coverage of any sort actually rose, from about 35 million to 44 million now. (Reinhardt, Ph. D, p.2) Since the economic growth is affected by the global recession, these figures may again go high. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a right of citizenship.” (Battista, M.D. & McCabe, PhD) Though US most of the times advice others about the human right violations happening in other countries, they are keeping a blind eye towards the exploitation of public in their country with respect to the health care strategies. Health care system in the United States is controlled mainly by private agencies and the governmental agencies have limited role in this area. Governmental agencies mainly provide health care to military personnel and the veterans. “Corporations are able to buy politicians through our campaign finance system and control the media to convince people that corporate health care is democratic, represents freedom, and is the most efficient system for delivering health care” (Battista, M.D.& McCabe, Ph.D) The free market health care system in US currently working under certain myths like;The United States has the best health care system in the world; Universal Health Care Would Be Too Expensive; Universal Health Care Would Deprive Citizens of Needed Services; Universal Health Care Would Result In Government Control And Intrusion Into Health Care Resulting In Loss Of Freedom Of Choice; Universal Health Care Is Socialized Medicine And Would Be Unacceptable To The Public; The Problems With The US Health Care System Are Being Solved and Are Best Solved By Private Corporate Managed Care Medicine because they are the most efficient(Battista, M.D.& McCabe, Ph.D) But the statistics regarding infant mortality, men and women death rates shows that the US free market health care system is far behind compared to other developed countries. Moreover because of the private participation, the US health care expenses are more compared to other developed countries like Canada or Britain. Socialist or universal public health care system in Canada In countries where socialist or universal health care system is followed, all the eligible citizens of the country will get medical, dental or mental health care through a single agency public, private or mixed. The aim of this health care system is to extend the health facilities as wider as possible by reducing the barriers accessing it by the public. Though the patient needs to bear some portion of his medical expenses, bulk of the expenses will be met by the government through compulsory insurance or tax revenues. “In 1984, the Canada Health Act was passed, which prohibited extra billing by doctors on patients while at the same time billing the public insurance system. In 1999, the prime minister and most premiers reaffirmed in the Social Union Framework Agreement that they are committed to health care that has "comprehensiveness, universality, portability, public administration and accessibility” (Universal health care) Though the per capita expenditure on health care in Canada is less compared to United States, the effectiveness of Canadian health care policies are far better compared to United States as per the recent statistics available. The reason for above disparity is the increased private involvement in US health care system compared to Canada. “The health care system in Canada is funded by a mix of public (70%) and private (30%) funding, with most services delivered by private (both for-profit and not-for-profit) providers.” (Canadian and American health care systems compared) Private companies will always operate upon the motivation of profit making rather than social service. So they will be more focused on their profit making by providing cheap quality health care strategies. “Studies have come to different conclusions about the result of this disparity in spending. A 2007 review of all studies comparing health outcomes in Canada and the US in a Canadian peer-reviewed medical journal found that "health outcomes may be superior in patients cared for in Canada versus the United States, but differences are not consistent." Life expectancy is longer in Canada, and its infant mortality rate is lower than that of the U.S.” (Canadian and American health care systems compared) In both Canada and US the expenses are going up in health care sector and both the countries are thinking of some reformative actions in health sector. Health care system suitable for United States United States should follow a universal health care policy like Canada. Moreover they should reduce the private participation in the health sector. It is fact that under the current globalized environment it is difficult to completely avoiding the private sector. But US should realize that the involvement of private companies in critical sectors like health will result in unfavorable outcomes. The safety and health of citizens are equally important for a democratic country like United States and they should seek lessons from other countries like Canada at least in this sector. The governments in US don’t have the moral right to stay away from health sector by giving all the responsibilities to some greedy private companies. As the government incorporate a high volume of taxes in most of the sectors, it is morally wrong for them to stay away from this critical sector. Conclusions The free market US health care system is not providing enough benefits to the public though per capita spending on health care sector is more in US compared to other developed countries. Most of the spending on health sector by the government goes into the pocket of the greedy private companies involved in this sector rather than making any good to the public. US should adopt a universal health care policy like Canada and the government involvement in this sector must be increased. References 1. Reinhardt Uwe E., Ph. D, 2001, Retrieved on June 5, 2009 from http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:vjN8vtZNMcoJ:www.hpm.org/Downloads/Reinhardt__U_The_US_HC_System_Recent_History_and_Prospects..pdf+history+of+Public+health+care+system+in+United+States&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk 2. Battista John R., M.D. and McCabe Justine, Ph.D, 1999, Retrieved on June 5, 2009 from http://cthealth.server101.com/the_case_for_universal_health_care_in_the_united_states.htm 3. Universal health care, Retrieved on June 5, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care 4. Canadian and American health care systems compared, Retrieved on June 5, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared Read More