Health Status and Health Care Services in Canada and the US - Essay Example

? Health status and health care services in Canada with comparison to the United s Contents Executive Summary 3 Population and health Status 4 Macro environmental influences on the health care system 7 Expenditures 9 12 Availability of Services 12 Summary Comments 14 References 16 Executive Summary Health care industry is one of the most important industries of both Canada and USA. Both are developed countries and have certain similar demographic characteristics. The governments of both the industries are quite actively involved in the improvement of the health care industry. The healthcare industry is mainly dominated by the private players in both the nations. However, despite having similar demographic features, USA has witnessed a lot more growth as compared to Canada in the domain of health care expenditures. Population and health Status As of 2013, the United States of America had a total population of 316,097,000 making the country the third most populous country in the world. Majority of the country is urbanized with more than eighty percent of the population living in cities and suburb areas. More than one hundred fifty million of the total population are females. For the age group of zero to fourteen the male: female ratio is 20.2%. For the age group of 15-64 the male: female ratio is 67% and for 65 and above the male: female ratio is 12.8%. The United States of America is getting more ethnically and racially diverse which reflects the influence of the immigration on the age and size structure of the country. The U.S. population considers the profile of the five racial groups. Another major characteristic of the country has been the fact that the United States of America is getting older. Apart from the total size of the population, this is one of the most important demographic characteristics. Here it needs to be mentioned that such trends of aging population is visible in almost all the developed economies (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). As of April 2013, the estimated population of Canada is 35,141,542. As far as sex ratio is concerned, at birth the male: female ratio is 1.06. For the under the age of fifteen the male: female ratio is 1.02. For 65 years and above the male: female ratio is 0.7. For the total population the male: female ratio is 0.98. Hence just like USA, the majority of the population of Canada is female. Another similar demographic characteristic of the two countries is the fact that majority of the population, i.e. more than 80% live in urban and suburban areas. Just like USA and other developed countries Canada also have an aging population. The median age for males is forty years and for females the figure shoots up to 42.4 years. On the whole the median age of the nation is 41.2 years. The mortality rate of USA as of 2012 is 8.38 deaths/1,000 people. The mortality rate of Canada as of 2012 is 8.09 deaths/1,000 people. Figure 1 US Mortality Rate, Source: Index Mundi The mortality rate provides the average annual number of deaths during a year per 1000 population in the midyear. Both Canada and USA have witnessed increase in the mortality rates. The rate of rise in USA has been a lot less as compared to Canada (Ridley, 2008, p. 301). Figure 2 Canada Mortality Rate, Source: Index Mundi The infant mortality rate is an important factor of the health of the nation. The infant mortality rate provides the number of deaths of the infants who are under one year old in a year per one thousand live births in that year only. This includes the total death rate by sex. This rate is used as an indicator of the level of the health in the country. The infant mortality rate in USA as of 2012 is 5.98 deaths/1,000 live births. Figure 3 US Infant Mortality Rate, Source: Index Mundi As of 2012 the infant mortality rate of Canada was 4.85 deaths/1,000 births. Figure 3 US Infant Mortality Rate, Source: Index Mundi The standard of living in United States is among the top 20 in the world as per the measures of the standards used by the economists. On a more comprehensive note, according to the UN human development index, the United States of America has always been among the top twenty. Presently the country is ranked at number the three. On human poverty index the country is ranked at the 17th place. This is just one rank below the United Kingdom. Just like USA, Canada is also among the developed countries in the world and hence it can be only assumed that the quality of life in Canada would not be far behind USA. According to the recent survey by the organization for the economic co-operation’s better life index Canada was below Australia and Sweden. But still Canada is regarded as among the countries having high degree of quality of life. According the reports by the Canadian press while the OECD did not compile the rankings when the entire probable indicators were merged and summed up, Canada still finished among the thirty six countries surveyed. Macro environmental influences on the health care system During his term in the office President Bill Clinton attempted a significant restricting of the health care industry, but the attempts failed mainly due to the public pressure. In the year 2000, during the election campaign, the prescription of drugs became a central issue. In the year 2004 election healthcare proved to one of the most important issues as well. The political influence on the healthcare industry is not solely due to money. It is a case of reputation and transparency for the US government. As of 2011 the United States of America spent almost 15% of the total GDP on the healthcare industry. However, just like other industries, the healthcare industry also got affected by the economic recession. Just like other countries the US population is also an aging one and hence in the decades ahead the country may witness increased level of expenditure for health care related products. However, it is to be added that unlike any other industry the people would have very little influence as far as product choice is concerned in case of the health care industry as most of the times the people tend to rely on health practitioners. Technology has made a huge impact on the health care industry. According to reports, the United States spends a lot of money on technology. According to a study in the year 2011 the USA had a 19.5 per million MRI scanners. The same study also revealed that in the same year USA had 29.5 million CT scanners. Also the country has developed mechanism to fight Cancer. Famous athlete Lance Armstrong is a prime example of this. Just like USA, the political parties in Canada also show keen interest in the healthcare industry of the country. In Canada, the Reform Party and the successors, i.e. the Conservative Party of Canada, considered boosting the role of the private sector in the Canadian healthcare industry. But just like USA the public protests lead to the abandonment of the plans. The opposition and the support of the political elites for the health care reform implicate that the core bargains have not been constant over the period of time. As a matter of fact, the positions of the parties have always changed based on the peripheral surroundings at a given point of time and the strengths of the forces circulating around the proposal of changes. Just like USA, the health care industry of Canada is also one of the most important industries. As of 2011 the government of the nation spends 10.0% of the total GDP on the healthcare industry. The figure may be less than the spending of the government of USA, but still it is a significant figure nonetheless. Just like the USA Canada has also felt the wrath of the economic downturn. However, things are gradually changing as the dark clouds of the economic recessions are slowly, but surely moving away. Like most of the developed countries, Canada has an aging population and thus it is expected that the spending of the people on the healthcare and pharmacy products would increase. There is a public perception that private sectors may undermine the health of the people focusing a lot more on profitability. In both the USA and Canada the family doctors mostly act as the gatekeepers when it comes to the decision making of the people related to health care products. Just like USA, Technological forces have had a positive influence on the health care industry of Canada. According to a study, in 2011, Canada had 4.6 MRI scanners per million and 10.3 CT scanner per million. Although the figures suggest that Canada is lagging behind USA; also recent studies have shown that the patients get the MRI within 24 hours. Expenditures The governments of both the countries are quite closely involved in the healthcare industry. The main structural differences between the two nations lie in the health insurance. In Canada, the government is committed to provide funding support to the provincial governments for health care related expenditures. Some actually have tagged the country as the socialized medicine. But the term is actually inaccurate. Unlike the countries following the system of public delivery the system in Canada actually delivers coverage for a combination of private and public delivery. In the USA however, the direct government funding of healthcare is somewhat limited to Medicaid, Medicare and the State children’s health insurance programs. This actually covers the children, the senior citizens, the disabled and the poor. Despite the major roles of the private players in the USA healthcare industry the state and the federal industries are also involved in the health care spending. Apart from direct spending the government is also involved in the industry through various legislation and regulations. Just like USA the involvement of the Canadian government in the funding is also quite high. The Canadian healthcare industry is almost 75% publicly funded. The health care spending in USA has been forecasted to reach 20% of the total revenue of the country by 2021. Aging population, improvements in the economy and the health care overhaul of Barack Obama would most certainly push the spending on the medical services by 20%. The spending on the hospital visits along with other medications is likely to rise by almost 4% by 2013. Also it is forecasted that almost 18% of the GDP would be consumed. The increase in such expenditures would continue to even leave behind the economic growth projection and shoot to 7% in the year 2014 (William, 2008). Unlike USA, the pace of the healthcare spending in Canada has continued to slow down. According to a report by the Canadian institute of health information, the health expenditure is likely to be more than $207 billion by 2013. Healthcare spending as a contributor to the overall share of the economy has also fallen. The share of the GDP of the country spent on the healthcare industry is likely to reach 11.6% by the end of the year 2013 as compared to 11.9% of the last year. Weak economic growth combined with the fiscal deficits may actually have a dampening impact on the future public sector healthcare spending. However, just like USA things in Canada may also actually change. Just like the USA government, the government of Canada is also actively involved in the development of the healthcare industry. Also the economic condition is getting better. Hence the combination of the improving economy and the aging population could most certainly mean that the nation would have a growth in the health care expenditures. Availability of Services The health care in USA is provided by various organizations. Health care facilities are mainly operated by the private sectors. The health care providers in the country encompass individual health care facilities and personnel and medical products. The ownership of the health care system is mainly in the private hands, although, the federal, county and state governments also own certain facilities. The non profit hospitals’ share of the total hospital capacity has continued to remain stable. There is no countrywide system of the government owned medical facilities for the local governments. The federal veterans’ health administrations have VA hospitals for veterans only. The hospitals provide care through emergency rooms and special clinics. The emergency departments and the urgent care centres are the sources of the problem focused care approach adopted by the government. In Canada, one issue continues to be a hot topic other than the public policy, i.e. the issue of the health care. In general the country has a mixed public/private system. In this the public sector is responsible for the delivery of the heath care services and the public sector is mainly responsible for the financing of the private bodies. The public sector participation is referred to as the involvement of the government and the state in the health care. The government involvement is a vast one and national and state governments. The participation of the public may actually come in various forms. The state may regulate the health care system by imposing certain laws. Apart from this the public bodies may actually also play a lot more participative role such as the appointment of the healthcare professionals, controlling and owning of the clinics and the hospitals (McNew, 2013). The participation of the private players in contrast is a lot greater as compared to the private players. But the use of the term non government is quite broad as this includes the involvement of the profit-making, non-profit and also charitable organizations. The involvement of the private players may actually involve the delivery of the healthcare services and also through the financing of the services through individual payments and various private health insurances (Stahl, 2008). Summary Comments To summarize things it can be said that the both US and the Canada are two of the most developed countries in the world and hence both the countries have certain demographic similarities. However, the mortality rates in USA are a lot lower than in Canada. But the infant mortality rate in Canada is lesser compared to USA. Healthcare is one of the most important industries in the two nations. The governments of the both nations are actively involved in the development of the healthcare industry. The healthcare industries in both the nations have mixed private and public participation. But, the level of participation of the private players in the industry is a lot higher than that of the government players. Both the countries have embraced technology to improve the level of the service delivery. The government investment figures of the USA a bit more than in Canada. But still the investment figure of Canada is quite significant. One major difference however would most certainly be the growth of the health care expenditures. In USA due to the government policies along with improving economies and the aging population, the health care expenditure growth has been steady and vast. The trend is likely to continue over time, while in Canada over the last few years the growth has been slow. But the economic improvement along with aging population is likely to trigger the growth of the health care expenditure. References Maylor, H. and Blackmon, K. (2005). Researching in Business and Management. London: Palgrave Macmillan McNew, E. (2013). Emergency Department Compliance Manual: 2013 Edition. New Jersey: Aspen Publishers Ridley, D. (2008). The Literature Review: A step by step guide for students. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Stahl, E. (2008). Emergency Department Overcrowding: Its Evolution and Effect on Patient Populations in Massachusetts. Massachusetts: Pro-Quest William, G. (2008). National Health Insurance In the United States and Canada: Race, Territory, and the Roots of Difference. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press Read More