US & UK: Healthcare Financing Comparative Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

The United States of America and Great Britain are two countries with the most developed healthcare systems globally. The development of healthcare is often assessed using healthcare financing between the countries. Under healthcare financing, a variety of elements such as access, medical coverage, and referrals for patients to seek expert treatment, among others are evaluated (Hero, Zaslavsky, & Blendon, 2017). This term paper aims to compare the health financing between the United States and Great Britain. The basis of access, coverage of the medication, patient referrals, preexisting conditions coverage, and financial implications for healthcare delivery are analyzed.

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Access

Access to medical facilities is a critical element that ensures the reliability of healthcare services to the citizens; hence, easy acquisition of medical services. Great Britain has an enhanced medical system known as NHS (National Health Service). The NHS is a government-sponsored system that provides access to medical services to children, the unemployed, and the retired. Under the NHS system, all Great Britain citizens are permitted to receive medical care for free regardless of the expenses to be incurred. The NHS offers covers a wide range of healthcare services such as rehabilitation services, immunization for the children, and end-of-life health services for the retired (Papanicolas, Woskie, & Jha, 2018).

On the other hand, more than half of the insured United States citizens have personal insurance covers. While in Great Britain children are under the care of NHS, in the US, children and the retired citizens are insured under the Medicare services that offer specified covers. The Medicare premium for the retired American citizens is dependent on the amount of tax paid and job history for the individual. The government fully funds access to healthcare services in Great Britain for all citizens. Hence easy access to medical facilities while in the US, enables the majority of citizens have private insurances limited healthcare access (Hero et al., 2017).

Medication Coverage

NHS in Great Britain partly covers the medication costs for the British. In cases where the prescription of medication is by the NHS, then the British patient receives free medicines. For the private outpatient physicians, the Department of Health is installed to facilitate calculations of the copayment by the patient. The copayment also has exceptions in Great Britain. Full-Time students aged sixteen to eighteen years, under fifteen and older citizens who are above sixty years are exempted from copayment hence receive free medical coverage (Makary & Daniel, 2016). Expectant mothers and patients with chronic cancer are also exempted from copayment. In the US, medication coverage is partly covered but subjected to many restrictions. The coverage of medication in the US depends on the type of insurance cover an individual purchase. The insurance companies often use a formulary system to fund medicines for their clients. Clients also have to pay a specified amount before the insurance guarantees payment of drugs. Majority of the US residents pay for the medical coverage bills, unlike in Great Britain, where only a few pays for the drugs making the medication process in U.S expensive (Moon, 2018).

Referrals to Visit a Specialist

Great Britain offers its citizens a wide choice in terms of selecting a hospital for their medical services. Patients often select any NHS hospital for their services. The only restriction is that patients are allowed to choose a specialist from the hospital group under the NHS system. The selection of meeting a specialist is selected based on the waiting period and the hospital location. Each hospital under the NHS system has a specialist who offers expert services when necessary (Papanicolas et al., 2018).

In the United States, the citizens have a free selection of the specialist they would want to see. The referral of meeting any specialist is based on the insurance type a patient bought. Some insurance firms allow patients to visit specialists without referral letters. While those insurance companies under the Health Maintenance Organizations, limit patient referrals to specialists. Patients using Medicare services in the US often have restrictions when seeking specialist services. The specialist has the option of turning down the visits request by the patient at his or her will. Rejection of visits by Medicare patients is an outcome of the limitations on the payment that the patients have to pay. The specialists view the fee as little hence rejects some visits from the patients (Moon, 2018).

Preexisting Conditions Coverage

Patients in Great Britain are not affected by the preexisting conditions of their health statuses. There are no special requirements that can limit access to medical services in Great Britain as healthcare services are a right. The NHS system requires all citizens in Great Britain to pursue treatment at any medical center that they select under the NHS (Hero et al., 2017). In the United States of America, ailing people are also permitted to obtain medical attention except for patients who enrolled for insurance health covers before 23rd March 2010. The patients who have old insurances often encounter a lot of subjection before acquiring medical services (Makary & Daniel, 2016).A3. Finance Implications for Healthcare Delivery

Great Britain collects adequate taxes that are used to finance the healthcare sector; therefore making it affordable to the citizens. The majority of physicians in Great Britain is under the function of the state but can also opt to work privately. The freedom of selection of clinics by the patients makes private physicians get a low number of patients as the majority of the patients often chose free medical services under the NHS system. Financing of the NHS system if from the taxes collected from the citizens in Great Britain; hence, the system runs efficiently due to high amounts of taxes collected to finance the health sector (Hero et al., 2017).

On the other hand, it is expensive to finance healthcare services in the US. A majority of the Americans opt using generic medicines instead of the branded ones. Numerous attempts such as the Obama Care have been initiated to help lower the cost of medical services. The efforts are often outweighed by the challenges facing healthcare in the US, such as private insurers (Makary & Daniel, 2016).

Conclusion

Access to healthcare services in Great Britain is more comfortable compared to the US. Great Britain also offers comprehensive coverage of medical services for its citizens where a large population is catered for by the NHS system. In the US, there are a lot of medical restrictions to the citizens depending on insurance cover hence limiting its reliability. Referrals are based on the NHS hospital a patient selects in Great Britain while in the US; it is dependent on the type of insurance a client uses. Preexisting conditions play a rare part in determining healthcare delivery in the two states. Financing of healthcare services is by the taxes collected from citizens in Great Britain while in the US individuals often fund the more significant share of their medical services

References

Hero, J. O., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Blendon, R. J. (2017). The United States leads other nations in differences by income in perceptions of health and health care. Health Affairs, 36(6), 1032-1040. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0006&ved=2ahUKEwiv8PPxoPHjAhXs2eAKHZuMAWkQFjABegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw0gmJdhYMiYndudtQH87Pfo

Makary, M. A., & Daniel, M. (2016). Medical error-the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ, 353, i2139. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ipassinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/medical-errors-leading-cause-of-death.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjQn6jKn_HjAhWJDxQKHeKGDDwQFjAQegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw0kdFtS7fVWSs1E3TwQJt-E

Moon, M. (2018). Medicare Now and in the future. Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/an-overview-of-medicare/&ved=2ahUKEwjtzp6bofHjAhUIlxQKHX6bDtgQFjAOegQICBAI&usg=AOvVaw1vC9EQPUE1x2sa1oLMVNNj

Papanicolas, I., Woskie, L. R., & Jha, A. K. (2018). Health care spending in the United States and other high-income countries. Jama, 319(10), 1024-1039. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29536101&ved=2ahUKEwikp7eeoPHjAhVr7OAKHVMQC3AQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw0iVaMOH4zjaabAlDxHHq8R