Human beings cannot survive without healthcare. All over the world, governments and residents alike are doing their best to improve healthcare systems. Since the old age, man has done everything possible to make sure that health strives in the universe so that people can live healthy lives. With the evolution of humankind, came the evolution of healthcare administration. Throughout the world, healthcare administration differs in terms of quality, cost and effectiveness. Due to such differences, some countries stand out because of providing better services than other countries. Other nations also attract worldwide attention because of providing poor healthcare services. This paper focuses on comparing two developed nations to get a clear image on health systems in the world. The two nations are the United States and Canada. Canada provides all its citizens with insurance; therefore, each person can access healthcare easily, whereas the US does not provide all the citizens with insurance. On the other hand, well-paid doctors in America receive enough motivation to give patients their best, whereas, some Canadian doctors lack the motivation due to less pay. Therefore, the United States should work on developing a solution that will ensure all the citizens access healthcare, and Canada should strive to pay doctors better.
Health Systems in Canada and the US
The Canadian government applies a National Health Insurance System, NHI, which is of great help to Canadian citizens. The NHI System is a program that covers Canada and the whole population, providing properly defined health benefits packages to the Canadian citizens (Ridic, Gleason & Ridic, 2012). Canada specifically operates on Medicare. The Medicare program covers over 97% of the residents in Canada and the remaining few individuals receive funding from the government (Baldwin, 2011). The use of Medicare in Canada means that citizens across the country can uniformly access healthcare. The single payer system that Canada utilizes in its health system provides each person with the healthcare they need in cases of sickness. With each resident covered, there is no need to worry about user charges when seeking health services. The single payer system also covers a variety of services and that is a huge advantage to Canadians. The Medicare program is extremely beneficial to the people it serves, and each person can get proper services without having to put in too much effort.
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"Comparison: HealthCare in Canada and US".
America embraces a multi player system, unlike Canada, which utilizes a single payer system. America operates using different systems, which depend on the region in question and the things that are obtainable in the same region. According to Akinlaja (2016), the health system in the US is more of a secluded system whereby various methods apply in providing health services to Americans. The modes of providing healthcare services in America range from using insurance covers, which employers provide employees with confidentially purchased insurance covers. The government also provides some insurance covers, but many Americans have to dig into their pockets to cater for medical expenses. Even though the innovation of Obama Care meant to alleviate the problem of inaccessibility of health services, many still cannot afford medical care. This is because Obama Care met much opposition from the government and business people (Akinlaja, 2016). Business people felt that Obama Care threatened their income, since many American businesses depend on the expensive American health care. Without a single payer system in the US, residents cannot enjoy standardization or equal distribution of health services. Many who cannot raise the needed funds miss the opportunity to access proper healthcare.
Medical professionals in the US are among the highest remunerated in the globe. Most doctors in the private and public sector earn a lot and live a comfortable life (Laugesen & Glied, 2011). The quality of healthcare in America is high and despite the fact that many Americans do not have insurance, residents who access health care services receive some of the best services in the world. Doctors not only have an oath to abide to, but they also have a good salary to motivate them and that highly benefits the individuals served.
Since Canadian doctors are not one of the highest paid in the world; some feel that they do not offer quality services. That argument is true to some point because doctors, just like other workers, need motivation to work. According to Akinlaja (2016), each individual rendering a service needs proper rewarding; since Canadian doctors do not receive as much rewards as American doctors, some of them lack the motivation to offer the best services to patients. Such an issue negatively affects the people served because patients require the best services and fast response time to lead healthy lives.
Conclusion
Canada utilizes a single payer system for its health system, whereas America utilizes a multi-player system. The system in Canada allows all citizens to access equal healthcare opportunities, whereas the system in America means that many do not have the opportunity to receive medical care. The quality of healthcare in the US is of high quality because American doctors are one of the highest paid in the world. However, despite the excellent medical services, America should lean towards trying to develop a more affordable healthcare system. Canada also needs to pay doctors more to ensure that citizens receive the best health services. Doing so will ensure that all citizens receive the health care services that are rightfully theirs. Healthcare is of utmost importance and no individual should miss the chance of receiving health services due to lack of money. Doctors also deserve enough rewarding because, just like other workers, they deserve enough motivation to ensure that they do their job perfectly. Healthcare is not simply about the cost and accessibility, but also about the quality.
- Akinlaja, M. O. (2016). The United States and Canadian System of Healthcare: A Comparative Study (Doctoral dissertation).
- Baldwin, S. (2011). Healthcare systems around the world. Global Health (1937-514X), 4(1), 1-13.
- Laugesen, M., & Glied, S. (2011). Higher fees paid to US physicians drive higher spending for physician services compared to other countries. Health Affairs, 1647-1656
