Comparative Essay on the Health Care System in the United States of America and Greece

Every country aims at providing quality health care at a reasonable cost to its citizens and focuses on ensuring the healthcare facilities are readily available to all citizens but so far, no state has achieved this goal. The health care system faces a lot of challenges such as, insufficient funds, contagious diseases and poor cooperation from all stakeholders. One of the country that that faces this challenges in the health sector the United States of America. The worrying state of health care system in the U.S. has prompted the providers, leaders and policy makers to hunt for meaningful reforms in the health care system so that it meets the desired quality (Dorning, 2016). This paper focuses on the comparison between the United States health care systems with that of Greece with the aim of identifying health structure gaps between this two nations. Henceforth, this study compares the United States health care to that of Greece.

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History

The United States health care structure is more diversified in relation to its mode of delivering care than that of Greece. In the U.S, both non-profit organizations and commercial establishment support the government in ensuring quality care, by providing initiatives like insurance and medication (Dorning, 2016). About 70% of the hospitals available in the U.S. are owned by the non-profit organization while 70% of nursing homes are managed by organizations who aim at making some profit returns. On the other hand, Greece has both private and public hospitals. DEPANOM, a state-owned construction company, is charged with the responsibility of building, maintaining and upgrading Greeces public medical facilities. The National Center for Direct Aid provides ambulance and emergency services. In Greece, the unemployed, refugees and individuals earning less than 2400 per year are entitled to free health coverage.

Mortality and Morbidity

Infant mortality rate in the U.S. is approximately 6.09 deaths per 1000 children born alive. While in Greece, infant mortality is approximately five deaths per 1000 children born alive (NationMaster, 2017). The rate of obesity among adults is projected at 19% in the U.S. and 10% in Greece. Life expectancy is 80 years in Greece while for America is 78 years (NationMaster, 2017). The U.S. government can improve these factors by enhancing health care and advocating for a better lifestyle which should include a proper diet and physical activity. Good nutrition and physical activity lead to a healthy lifestyle, free from conditions such as obesity, cancer and heart disease. Henceforth, diet and physical exercises improve overall health of a nation; thus, lowering the mortality rate.

Services

The United States general care is not comparable to any other developed country. The U.S. government owns 21% of community hospitals, not-profit organization owns 58% and profitable organization owns 21% (NationMaster, 2017). As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. spent 17.2% of its GDP on health, more than any other nation. However, it is far from meeting its goal of a quality healthcare system which affordable to all the Americans. Thus, they are trying as per the moment to fully implement the affordable care act which focuses on expanding health coverage, increasing protection and improving efficiency in the health sector. Conversely, Greece is one of the nations in the world considered to have invested highly on its health sector. Concerning health care, it has good and qualitative hospitals. The medicines are subsidized; hence, an advantage to unfortunate patients who could not have purchased drugs at high costs. Public hospitals offer free emergency care, a benefit to the poor. Henceforth, Americans have much to learn from the Greece regarding health care, especially at subsidization of medical drugs and free emergency treatment.

Population served

In the year 2014 89.6% of 283.2 million people in the U.S. had health coverage (NationMaster, 2017). The Medicare initiative provided coverage to 36.5% of the Americans assured while the private health insurance plan covered 66% of the 115.4 million people insured (Dorning, 2016). Amazingly, 32.9 million U.S. citizens had no health cover. On the other hand, Greece healthcare is enhanced through national health coverage in which the private healthcare is optional. All citizens are insured. Public hospitals offer emergency care free of charge to all people regardless their nationality. If these initiatives of Greece country are adopted and implemented by the United States, they can improve greatly Americas health sector.

Financing

The United States of America is among the top countries spending a significant portion of their GDP on the health care industry. Currently, about 17% of GDP is dedicated to health, and it is projected to rise to 20% by the year 2020. About 84.7% Americans have medical coverage while 15.3% are not covered (NationMaster, 2017). The government contributes approximately 60% of the total expenditure in health. Alternatively, in Greece taxes account for 70% of the disbursement to the health care sector, and the other amount comes from insurances and private payment. Public hospitals are funded directly by the government while insurances finance private hospitals. It is astonishingly to learn that Greece spends a smaller portion of its GDP compared to America but Americans are lagging behind them in terms of quality health care provision.

Resources

In terms of resources, America is the most powerful nation in the world, with several liabilities and assets (Dorning, 2016). Henceforth, America is more privileged in terms of resources than Greece. Besides, America spends about 17.2 of its GDP on enhancing health care. Despite the relatively high resources and expenditure in health, the U.S has fewer health providers per capital compared to Greece.

Performance

The United States health care professionals are unsurpassed in the kind of quality key skills they possess. They are equipped with modern devices that can enhance good medication (Dorning, 2016). But with all these resources, America is behind other industrialized nations concerning health, possibly because of its high cost and inequality in treatment. On the other hand, Greece is ranked 14th in terms of performance.

Regulation and Assessment

In both nations, the government regulates and assesses the health system. For instance, in America, the government enhances care through the Affordable care act whereas in Greece medication is facilitated through the national health protection (Dorning, 2016).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the above discussion demonstrates on certain areas where the United States health department has to improve in order to compete with other nations such as Greece. For instance, the U.S. government should ensure that health insurance covers every person in the U.S. Above all the U.S. government should work out an appropriate strategy of distributing resources that guarantee the citizens access to cheap and quality health care.

References

Dorning Jennifer. (2016). The U.S. Health Care System: An International Perspective. (202) 638-0320 extension 114. Retrieved on 15th March 15, 2017, from http://dpeaflcio.org/programs-publications/issue-fact-sheets/the-u-s-health-care-system-an-international-perspective/.

NationMaster. (2017). Country VS Country: Greece and United States compared: Health Stats. Retrieved on 15th March 15, 2017, from http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Greece/United-States/Health.