Australia's Universal Healthcare System
Healthcare around the world has become a basic economic necessity among highly competitive and progressive nations. Healthcare is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease or illness but healthcare extends far past the delivery of services to the public. Healthcare is a complex system dealing with many related sectors and plays a crucial role in the structure of government. Among the world’s leading spenders in healthcare, the U.S. ranks at the top spending 17.7% GDP annually (OECD, 2013). But many other industrial nations are finding success with alternative methods to healthcare such as Australia, Sweden, France, etc. Australia, in particular, is having success with their healthcare system but finds themselves spending a fraction
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Now a government agent, Medicare, is funded by the government and handles public hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and population health programs. Medicare is able to regulate private healthcare insurance, pharmaceuticals and medical services. Australia’s universal healthcare system, Medicare, provides coverage to all citizens from the time they’re born to the time they die and they also provide coverage for permanent residence. Australia uses a fee schedule to determine the amount of medical services each person is offered under the standard Medicare benefit. This insures that doctors, hospitals, and medical services are paid similar rates for every patient they evaluate (Kane 2012). Although every citizen has access to universal healthcare services, there are people that chose to go through private health insurance which allows patients access to private hospitals and other patient services. Private health insurance plays a symbiotic role in the Australian government due to the regulations set in place such as how people are encouraged through tax penalties for high-income earners and tax rebates for low income earners (Healy, Dugdale …show more content…
The United States is seen as having this superior healthcare strategy compared to the rest of the world and in reality that is not the case. The United States spends a substantial amount more on healthcare than the rest of the world and this supposedly makes them the leading healthcare system. But this ideology is widely debatable when you consider the profits that these private insurance companies earn. In a smaller picture, the United States has higher hospital spending and with higher spending people would assume hospitals are delivering more services but in reality U.S. hospital services cost more (Kane
Now a government agent, Medicare, is funded by the government and handles public hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and population health programs. Medicare is able to regulate private healthcare insurance, pharmaceuticals and medical services. Australia’s universal healthcare system, Medicare, provides coverage to all citizens from the time they’re born to the time they die and they also provide coverage for permanent residence. Australia uses a fee schedule to determine the amount of medical services each person is offered under the standard Medicare benefit. This insures that doctors, hospitals, and medical services are paid similar rates for every patient they evaluate (Kane 2012). Although every citizen has access to universal healthcare services, there are people that chose to go through private health insurance which allows patients access to private hospitals and other patient services. Private health insurance plays a symbiotic role in the Australian government due to the regulations set in place such as how people are encouraged through tax penalties for high-income earners and tax rebates for low income earners (Healy, Dugdale …show more content…
The United States is seen as having this superior healthcare strategy compared to the rest of the world and in reality that is not the case. The United States spends a substantial amount more on healthcare than the rest of the world and this supposedly makes them the leading healthcare system. But this ideology is widely debatable when you consider the profits that these private insurance companies earn. In a smaller picture, the United States has higher hospital spending and with higher spending people would assume hospitals are delivering more services but in reality U.S. hospital services cost more (Kane