Comparing Statistics of the US and Greece Health Care System - Paper Example

In the year 2014 89.6% of 283.2 million people in the U.S. had health insurance coverage (NationMaster, 2017). The Medicare initiative provides coverage to 36.5% while the private health insurance plan covers 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, in Greece healthcare is enhanced through national health coverage and private healthcare is optional. All citizens are insured and public hospitals service offer emergency care free of charge to all population regardless nationality. These initiatives can enhance Americas health sector if adopted and implemented.

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Financing

The United States of America is among the top domains in spending a significant portion of their GDP in 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 out-of-pocket payment. Public hospitals are funded directly by the government while private hospitals are financed by patients, insurances and sickness funds. The amazing thing here is the fact that Greece spends a smaller portion of its GDP compared to America but Americans are lagging behind them in terms of health care. There are some aspects that the U.S. should borrow from them.

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 health. 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 the unsurpassed. Also, they are equipped with modern devices that can enhance medication (Dorning, 2016). But with all these resources America is lagging 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 where else in Greece therapy is facilitated through the national health protection (Dorning, 2016).

Conclusion

Lastly, the above discussion compares the Unite States health with that of Greece, demonstrating certain areas where America has to improve. For instance, the U.S. government should ensure that health insurance covers its entire citizens. Above all the government should work out an appropriate strategy of distributing resources that guarantee the entire population access to cheap and quality care. However, this result was obtained from a comparison of one nation; conceivably if more comparisons are made with other nation a better health care system will be developed.

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/.

The article illustrates structure of U.S.s health care systems. Also, it provides a comparison of U.S.s health system with other nations. The information assisted with details of the U.S. health care system.

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.

The study gives health statistics of the U.S. and Greece. Data which was fundamental in comparing the health care system in the United States with that of Greece.