Walter Cronkite once said “America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.” The unorganized health care “system” in the US leaves many without the medical attention they desperately need. However on the other side of the globe, another developed nation portrays the complete opposite. Japan uses a form of the Bismarck model fused with its cultural values to achieve an effective health care system that produces better health outcomes at lower costs; however, there are downfalls to this system.
During the nineteenth century, Japan went through a period of social change, economic growth, and modernization ("The Meiji Restoration "). Along with it came the implementation of the Bismarck model of health care: a government-run
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A study found that in comparison to the US, Japan had higher life expectancy rates and lower infant mortality rates, at an average of 80 years and 4.6 percent compared to an average of around 75 years and 9.1 percent (“Japan’s Universal”). While this can be attributed to the overall better health of the Japanese due to diet, lower rates of crime, drug use, and other factors, health care plays a pivotal role. People often assume that better health care is associated increased cost; however this is not the case in Japan. The prices charged by private hospitals are regulated by the government through a fee schedule, and theses prices are very low in comparison to other nations. For example, a thousand dollar MRI scan in the US cost only about a hundred in Japan (Reid 92). Not only are these fees low, but doctors are also more likely choose cost effective treatments like prescribing medication rather than invasive surgery due to cultural respects to the body. However there is a downfall to cheap healthcare. Since doctors charge little, they earn little. And for those working in clinics in smaller communities, severe lack of funding prevents them from improving their facilities. The health care system provides excellent benefits for its citizens but squeezes out medical professionals. But as one doctor, Dr. …show more content…
Japan has been in a state of stagnant economic growth, which hurts corporations; many of which fund their own hospitals. This in turn would lead to an inevitable increase in price as they are unable to accommodate health care costs. The aging population can negatively impact this as well. They are more susceptible to disease, many of which require expensive treatment. With the working class shrinking, there is a smaller pool of people to help cover the cost of care. The fee schedule also produces issue within medical facilities. Due to the fixed costs, doctors have to find ways to maximize their profits, which leads to a high patient-doctor ratio as they try to see as many patients as possible (Black). This could inevitably lead to a decrease in quality of care. The fixed pricing also give doctors less incentive to specialize due to no foreseen benefits. While there are both negative and positive outcomes of Japan’s health care system, we can use their experiences as well as adapt and change their policies in order to provide better health care within the United States.
Japan’s health care system, which has been in place for many year, is a wonderful model to gain insight on how to build an efficient health care system. While there are certain aspects that can be implemented to make the United States’ health care “system” more efficient, there are also cultural aspects
The facts bear out the conclusion that the way healthcare in this country is distributed is flawed. It causes us to lose money, productivity, and unjustly leaves too many people struggling for what Thomas Jefferson realized was fundamental. Among industrialized countries, America holds the unique position of not having any form of universal health care. This should lead Americans to ask why the health of its citizens is “less equal” than the health of a European.
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...
There are several drivers that affect the functionality of health care systems. These entities or controllers move medical services in different directions and substantiate the need for change in organizations around the world. One pressing issue that has caused concern for the United States and other nations is demographics (Drivers of change). Demographics is defined by the growth and age of the people, as well as the diversity of the community (Drivers of change). In the U.S., the average age of the public has increased substantially due to longer life spans (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). This results in a maximization of hospital visits and cost to society (Shi & Singh, 2012). Unlike other countries, our health practices do not offer the best care at free or manageable cost (Reid, 2008). This nation is expected to continue to expand by 25% at the end of 2025 (Drivers of change). As a result, health disparities will require diversification of access, utilization, quality, and the health environment (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). A need for cultural integrity must be instituted for all people based on race, ethnic background, religion, and class (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012).
A country’s health care system refers to all the institutions, programs, personnel, procedures, and the resources that are used to meet the health needs of its population. Health care systems vary from one country to another, depending on government policies and the health needs of the population. Besides, health care programs are flexible in the sense that they are tailored to meet health needs as they arise. Among the stakeholders in the formulation of a country’s health care system are governments, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, charity organizations, trade/labor unions, and interested individuals (Duckett, 2008). These entities formulate, implement, evaluate, and reform health services according to the needs of the sections of the population they target.
Healthcare is the maintenance or restoration of health by treatment from trained and licensed professionals (Webster). The American people faced many issues with the way the healthcare system is split up. There are four basic healthcare models the United States usescurrently. First, PBS describes that the Beveridge model, covered/ran by the government, through tax payments. This is the only model used in Great Britain but in America it only covers veterans and soldiers, in Great Britain everyone in the country has coverage by it . Another system model the US takes up is the Bismarck model,it helps people to buy their own health insurance through their employer (Healthcare Economist). Three main countries that use this model are Japan, Switzerland, and Germany whose ex-leader, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, created the Bismarck method of health care. Which not only covers 90% of their country but allowsthe rich 10% opt out (Reid&Palfreman). An Americans third model option takes of the ideas of both Beveridge and Bismarck and its name is the National Health Insurance (NHI), which Taiwan operates with. The NHI allows private providers to become a choice even though citizens. These four systems have been used for decades and President Obama has put a bill together to propose a change in America'shealthcare. The Affordable Care Act [Obamacare], will give coverage through employers, help people find their own insurance, or government coverage through Medicare for the elderly, and Medicaid for a 1/3 of others (KFF). Medicaid is offered for those with low income, but only states with governors and legislators who approve for this one actually benefit the KFF (Kaiser family foundation) explained. Those who don't have or want health insuranc...
Healthcare professionals want only to provide the best care and comfort for their patients. In today’s world, advances in healthcare and medicine have made their task of doing so much easier, allowing previously lethal diseases to be diagnosed and treated with proficiency and speed. A majority of people in the United States have health insurance and enjoy the luxury of convenient, easy to access health care services, with annual checkups, preventative care, and their own personal doctor ready to diagnose and provide treatment for even the most trivial of symptoms. Many of these people could not imagine living a day without the assurance that, when needed, medical care would not be available to themselves and their loved ones. However, millions of American citizens currently live under these unimaginable conditions, going day to day without the security of frequent checkups, prescription medicine, or preventative medicines that could prevent future complications in their health. Now with the rising unemployment rates due to the current global recession, even more Americans are becoming uninsured, and the flaws in the United States’ current healthcare system are being exposed. In order to amend these flaws, some are looking to make small changes to fix the current healthcare system, while others look to make sweeping changes and remodel the system completely, favoring a more socialized, universal type of healthcare system. Although it is certain that change is needed, universal healthcare is not the miracle cure that will solve the systems current ailments. Universal healthcare should not be allowed to take form in America as it is a menace to the capitalist principle of a free market, threatens to put a stranglehold on for-...
With all the focus our country has recently put on Healthcare I thought is necessary to look at a country which has used a Universal Health care model to understand where we as a country are heading and why so many people are opposed to it. For years I have heard that Japanese healthcare was one of the best in the world and known of people who would travel to Japan to receive treatment. Japan has been at the forefront of technology and it seems that the use of that technology has helped them advance in Health Care as well. In comparing both Japanese and American Health Care Systems I am hoping to find if Japanese Health Care is better than our American Health Care System.
The U.S. healthcare system is very complex in structure hence it can be appraised with diverse perspectives. From one viewpoint it is described as the most unparalleled health care system in the world, what with the cutting-edge medical technology, the high quality human resources, and the constantly-modernized facilities that are symbolic of the system. This is in addition to the proliferation of innovations aimed at increasing life expectancy and enhancing the quality of life as well as diagnostic and treatment options. At the other extreme are the fair criticisms of the system as being fragmented, inefficient and costly. What are the problems with the U.S. healthcare system? These are the questions this opinion paper tries to propound.
Long-term care insurance is also required for those older than 40. As Dr. John W. Traphagan notes in The Diplomat, Japan controls costs by setting flat rates for everything from medications to procedures, thus eliminating competition among insurance providers. While most of the country 's hospitals are privately owned and operated, the government implements smart regulations to ensure that the system remains universal and egalitarian.”
Health care system is a prominent subject all over the world. Every country wants to provide the best health facilities and services to their people. Even than there are so many lapse in the health care field? As regard to U.S there are also so many short comings in the health care organizations. I have gone through and studied the background of the health care system being run by clinics, primary health care centers, and hospitals etc. People has to pay very high charges on every visit to the doctor or surgeon for medical treatments, follow-up and as indoor patients. Theses health care organizations demand plenty money and other hidden expenditures from the patients which is some time beyond the reach of the patients.
The US health system has both considerable strengths and notable weaknesses. With a large and well-trained health workforce, access to a wide range of high-quality medical specialists as well as secondary and tertiary institutions, patient outcomes are among the best in the world. But the US also suffers from incomplete coverage of its population, and health expenditure levels per person far exceed all other countries. Poor measures on many objective and subjective indicators of quality and outcomes plague the US health care system. In addition, an unequal distribution of resources across the country and among different population groups results in poor access to care for many citizens. Efforts to provide comprehensive, national health insurance in the United States go back to the Great Depression, and nearly every president since Harry S. Truman has proposed some form of national health insurance.
At the dawn of the 20th century, Japan began a rapid social, political, and cultural transformation under the pressure of a threatening Western gaze. In a complex overturn of traditional Japanese values, the Meiji government abolished feudalism and produced a centralized administration where power laid with an oligarchy of wealthy businessman and former nobles (Ebrey, 336). Beyond a governmental overhaul, however, Japan also imported Western military technology, legal norms, constitutional thought, dress, financial structures, dress, and food. Through an oligarchy whose control allowed for a Western renovation of factories and schooling systems, Japan completed its transformation into a modern, industrialized society as epitomized in Naomi,
In the 1900’s, Norway established a Health Care System to keep its country one of the happiest countries around the world. Within Norway, the health care system claims that they provide a free healthcare system, and overall best medical care for its patients. However this paper will include some contradictions within Norway’s Health care system, and offer suggestions on how to improve the Norwegian
Everyone country has success or strengths within its health care system. These strengths have helped revolutionize the country’s health care system into what it is today.
Everyone is always competing for the best health care. Different health care systems are different through out the world, but all with similar ideas of at least delivering some form of health care. Some countries in particular will be highly emphasized: Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Japan in how they work with cost, access, and quality with in the health care systems in their own countries.