Comparing Healthcare Systems
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Comparing Healthcare Systems
Ensuring equitable distribution and provision of healthcare services has proven a challenge to most governments, going by how healthcare dominates the public agenda. In the U.S., political, economic, and even personal topics have emerged to address the healthcare situation. Healthcare in the U.S. has been the subject of almost every political campaign. Lately, the debates have delved into comparing the U.S. healthcare systems with other nations'. Canada stands out as one of the nations that have been at the center of a comparative analysis of the U.S. healthcare system with those of other nations. To some, the healthcare system in Canada is much better compared to the U.S. This paper explores the debate by comparing and contrasting various elements of the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems. A comparative analysis of healthcare systems is vital in delivering the ultimate care in terms of factors such as insurance coverage, the role of private organizations, delivery of primary care, costs, and types of care covered by individual systems.
The first element of difference between the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems is the healthcare insurance coverage and how it is funded. In both Canada and the U.S., healthcare services are paid for through health insurance primarily (Wruk, 2015). The primary difference between the two systems comes in the manner in which the insurance schemes are funded. The U.S. insurance policy demands that every person pays for his/her healthcare. The only exception is the U.S. payment system is the eligibility to one of the government-provided offered to people in specific disability, age, or income brackets. The government-provided insurance programs include the Veterans Health Administration, Medicaid, and Medicare. While it does not always happen, health insurance in the U.S. is often linked to employment (Stolee et al., 2015). Employers are supposed to provide insurance coverage in the benefits package that they accord their employees. It is worth noting that coverage is not guaranteed, and the type of coverage can vary from one employer to another.
The Canadian healthcare system differs in terms of how healthcare insurance is offered. The federal government majorly provides funding support for healthcare insurance. At least 70% of the funding is budgeted by the federal government, while the public contributes the remaining 30% (Wruk, 2015). The funds are transferred to the provincial governments that are supposed to distribute the funds to the beneficiaries. To access the funds, the province must adhere to the regulations outlined in the Canada Health Act (CHA) of 1984 (Wruk, 2015). The Canadian system is geared to offer insurance to all Canadian citizens. The national healthcare system in Canada emphasizes the need for universal distribution of healthcare insurance coverage.
The U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems also differ in the role of private industry and competition in healthcare. Both the U.S. and Canadian systems showcase some affinity to the influence of the private sector (Wruk, 2015). The difference is marked by the varying intensity of the extent of competition and influence of the private sector. In the U.S., private enterprises dominate the provision of healthcare services and healthcare insurance coverage. Insurers in the U.S. compete for customers. The insurance companies sell their policies directly to customers or as benefits packages to employers who, in turn, distribute them to employees (Stolee et al., 2015). The same competition is mirrored in the provision of medical services. Healthcare facilities compete against each other on the grounds of cost, quality, and medical specialty. Notably, consumers bear a significant impact on the market (Shalowitz, 2019). The power of the consumers can, however, be limited depending on the trends of demand and supply among healthcare providers and insurance policy issuers. Factors such as the availability of physicians within an insurance provider's network, types of benefits available for negotiation, and the types of services offered by insurers are the primary bases of constraints for the U.S. consumers. The decisions to choose insurance policies highly depend on the above factors to consumers.
The influence of the private sector in Canada's healthcare system is not as competitive and intense as the U.S.'s. Private providers dominate most healthcare services as opposed to provincial or federal providers (Shalowitz, 2019). In Canada, healthcare practitioners work independently in private practice mostly. On some occasions, the practitioners are employed by private health service management organizations or are employed by private hospitals. These practitioners derive their revenue through billing the government health insurance packages. That happens at the expense of being paid through claims to private insurers (Stolee et al., 2015). Hence, as opposed to the U.S., where competition for the provision of insurance coverage is intense, Canadians majorly compete in the services offered, and no insurance companies exist to influence decisions from consumers.
The other notable aspect of comparison between the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems is the types of care covered by health insurance. Despite their notable differences in how healthcare insurance is funded, citizens are concerned about the healthcare services covered both in the U.S. and Canada (Shalowitz, 2019). Bearing the differences in the manners in which the systems are funded, citizens in both nations are limited to specific types of care as covered by their insurance policies. In the U.S., insurance coverage through private