Comparing Healthcare Systems: US, UK, Canada - Essay Sample

Introduction

The United States has the most costly healthcare system as compared to Canada and the United Kingdom (Roe & Liberman, 2007). Due to the high cost of healthcare, the coverage of the population is very low, especially for those who cannot pay for the high insurance premiums. The high cost of care has been detrimental in reducing healthcare disparities in the United States. Basing on life expectancy and mortality levels the Canadian and the United Kingdom healthcare systems have been able to increase the life expectancy of the people as well as reduce the mortality rate because of the universal healthcare coverage provided by the government (LaPierre, 2012). Canada and the United Kingdom healthcare systems have been able to facilitate more significant healthcare outcomes in terms of life expectancy, low amenable deaths, and low infant mortality which is not the case in the United States (Squires & Anderson, 2015). The pay for services approach leads to the compensation of the healthcare services providers based on quantity and not the quality of care (LaPierre, 2012). The healthcare system is restrictive in terms of cost due to the trial of new technologies and medicine compared to Canada and the United Kingdom, where the government universally funds healthcare. In the United States, the private insurance premiums are very high which has forced many Americans to be locked out of the accessing care especially the low-income earners for failing to afford the high insurance premiums (LaPierre, 2012). In Canada and the United Kingdom, there is greater access to care due to the direct government involvement in meeting the cost of care. This has resulted in high self-reported care, low amenable mortality, and has been instrumental in increasing the overall life expectancy.

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The historical relationship between the cost of healthcare and outcomes in the United States and the United Kingdom has been a little different (Majeed, Allwood, Foley, & Bindman, 2018). According to the World Health Organization, it issued a report on June 2000 and ranked the United Kingdom 9th while the United States ranked 17th in the overall system performance (Squires & Anderson, 2015). Since 2013 heal care spending growth per capita in the United Kingdom was $3,364 while in the United States was $9,086. Moreover, private spending on healthcare is higher in the United States as compared to the United Kingdom. The average us citizen spent $1,072 out-of-pocket on healthcare while the UK spent $277 (Squires & Anderson, 2015). The US public spending is also higher compared to the UK despite the US, covering fewer residents. Public programs like Medicare and Medicaid covered only about 34% of residents, and the spending amounted to $4,197 per capita in 2013. By comparison, every resident in the United Kingdom is covered by the public system, and spending was $2,802 per capita (Squires & Anderson, 2015).

In the United States, there exist barriers to attain high healthcare outcomes and attain the quality indicators that have been set internationally for developed countries. In the United States, the high healthcare cost due to rewarding healthcare providers based on the quantity has been instrumental in reducing the overall costs of care (Huot, Ho, Ko, Lam, Tactay, MacLachlan, & Raanaas, 2019). The rising number of the elderly in the society has led to an increase in care burden and the high number of uninsured due to the high healthcare insurance premiums will mean that many people in the United States will continue to be locked out of care as compared to the United Kingdom and Canada where the Universally funded care has been instrumental in increasing care access.

Conclusion

In conclusion, healthcare spending in the United States exceed the United Kingdom, and Canada has failed to provide positive results in terms of healthcare outcomes. Some policies should be changed to assist the change in the relationship of healthcare cost and outcome between the United States and the United Kingdom. This includes less utilization of expensive medical technology and the use of routine services such as frequent visits to physicians and hospitals. Moreover, the social services system should be used more to shape health trajectories and mitigate health disparities. Lastly, there should be new care models that reward healthcare providers based on their patient population health outcomes to ensure accountability. This will, in turn, help in creating a business case for healthcare providers to invest in certain social services and will also be a cost-effective way to improve patient's health.

References

Huot, S., Ho, H., Ko, A., Lam, S., Tactay, P., MacLachlan, J., & Raanaas, R. K. (2019). Identifying barriers to healthcare delivery and access in the Circumpolar North: important insights for health professionals. International journal of circumpolar health, 78(1), 1571385. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/22423982.2019.1571385

LaPierre, T. A. (2012). Comparing the Canadian and US Systems of Health Care in an Era of Healthcare Reform. Journal of Healthcare Finance. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/aafa/cd8a244d57852cb69e972eca04e45bf3a172.pdf

Majeed, A., Allwood, D., Foley, K., & Bindman, A. (2018). Healthcare outcomes and quality in the NHS: how do we compare and how might the NHS improve?. BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), 362. Retrieved from https://www.bmj.com/content/362/bmj.k3036

Roe, M. A., & Liberman, A. (2007). A Comparative Analysis of the United Kingdom and the United States Healthcare Systems. The Healthcare Manager, 26, 190-212. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/healthcaremanagerjournal/fulltext/2007/07000/A_Comparative_Analysis_of_the_United_Kingdom_and.2.aspx

Squires, D., & Anderson, C. (2015). US Healthcare from a Global Perspective: Spending,Use of Services, Prices, and Health in 13 countries. The Commonwealth Fund. Retrieved from https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/26591905