The health care model of the United States is characterized by the provision of medical care mainly on a fee basis, at the expense of the consumer of health services. The foundation of the healthcare organization is a private market for health services, complemented by public health programs for the poor “Medicaid” and “Medicare” retirees. Paul Zane Pilzer pays close attention to health issues. According to the American economist, Americans are not poor enough to join the 45 million receiving medical care under the state Medicaid program or have not reached the age of adherence to 47 million Americans who have such assistance under the ” Medicare” (Pilzer & Lindquist, 2014).
According to the Commonwealth Foundation, the US health system is recognized as the worst among 11 developed countries concerning efficiency, equity, results, although it is considered the most expensive in the world, while the UK’s healthcare system is considered to be the best. The UK is followed by Switzerland. In the third position is Sweden (Squires & Anderson, 2015). The United States go after Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, France and Canada.
The US health care system requires reform. Primary work with patients in hospitals is carried out by nurses. They conduct primary surveys and inspection. Thus, nurses have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the shortcomings of the health system from the point of view of the main consumers of medical services. In the field of medicine, experience exchange is actively practiced. Nurses have the opportunity to practice in countries with better health care systems. This will allow studying the main differences from the American system. Thus, nurses can collect information and provide it for analysis and development of the main aspects of medicine and come up with a proposal for reforming the health system. This will be the first step towards creating a new US healthcare system.
Most Americans need access to health insurance, regardless of employment or the existence of previous medical conditions. The US spends far more on human beings than other developed countries, but the population is unhealthy. People have become hostages of their socioeconomic status, which does not allow them to cope with the problem of inaccessible health care on their own.
References
Pilzer, P. Z., & Lindquist, R. (2014). The end of employer-provided health insurance: Why it’s good for you and your company. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Squires, D., & Anderson, C. (2015). US health care from a global perspective: Spending, use of services, prices, and health in 13 countries. The Commonwealth Fund, 15, 1-15.