One can safely say that American health care is the most problematic, complicated, and controversial institution in the United States (US). According to Parker (2021), the country “has the worst healthcare system overall among 11 high-income countries, even though it spends the highest proportion of its gross domestic product on health care” (para. 1). The US health system is the Gordian knot of its society. Exploring functioning and successful examples of other countries may reveal some realistic solutions.
American healthcare will be compared with those of Switzerland and Japan. It is a fair comparison since all three countries are financially, technologically, and institutionally advanced. For example, life expectancy in the United States was just under 79 years, while in Switzerland, it was 83, and in Japan, almost 84 in the mid-10s (Papanicolas et al., 2018). Healthcare expenditures in America were the highest among the three countries in 2016, with nearly 18% of total GDP spent on it (Papanicolas et al., 2018). Surprisingly, Switzerland ranked first in percentages for common health problems such as smoking and excessive alcohol use, with the US in second place (Papanicolas et al., 2018). However, just over 70% of the adult American population was considered obese, which is catastrophic (Papanicolas et al., 2018). As one can see, the American health care model falls far short of the global leadership status that the country is generally acknowledged to be.
A possible reason for such a significant gap in financial costs and population health may be different implemented healthcare models. Both Switzerland and Japan utilize a universal type of provision of healthcare treatment, care, and services, while that of the US is currently mixed (Papanicolas et al., 2018). A complete shift to the public one could solve its structural, personnel, social, and economic problems.
References
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.
Parker, C. (2021). U.S. healthcare system ranks last among 11 high-income countries, researchers say. The Washington Post. Web.