In PBS’s video “Healthcare: The U.S vs the world we are given insight into the highs and lows of the different healthcare systems around the world. It is well known that the US doesn’t have universal healthcare. In this video we are given a look into four different types of healthcare systems other than the US.
The video begins in Houston Texas where we are given the details of the financial hardships that many families in the US go through in order to provide healthcare to themselves or family members. The US is a single-payer system. It is know to be highly costly. This type of healthcare gives facilities and doctors the power to negotiate costs etc.
The first healthcare system we get a look into is the United Kingdom. The Uk has universal healthcare. The United Kingdom has the NHS (National health services). Taxes are what keeps the NHS running. The NHS spends half of what the US does even though they provide healthcare for everyone while the US doesn’t. The UK also has lower disease rates than the US. Only 10% of UK citizens buy extra health insurance. There is private supplemental insurance available if someone chooses to pay out of pocket. A negative of universal healthcare is that there is long wait times in order to be seen and receive treatment. Another problem is that medical advances are beginning to slow leading to a decrease in overall care.
The next healthcare system we get a look into is Switzerland. In Switzerland everyone gets to pick and choose their insurance. There are around 60 different providers you are allowed to choose from. The government regulates basic coverage instead of having just one provider that everyone is forced to use. In Switzerland the government also offers subsidies to buy insurance. This allows low-income families the ability to still have insurance. While citizens do have to pay for some of their healthcare costs the government places a cap on yearly expenses.
We also get a glimpse into Australia’s healthcare system. In Australia citizens are given access to public healthcare at little to no cost. Australia spends half of what the US does on healthcare. The government sets prices for healthcare. While there is a public healthcare system there is also a private healthcare system that some citizens prefer. The private healthcare that some citizen uses helps take the stress off of the public healthcare system (reduce wait times, patient numbers, etc).
Finally, we get a look into Canada’s healthcare system. In Canada the provinces and territories have control over healthcare. In Canada many citizens use private insurance to fill any gaps they have from public healthcare. One negative we found out about the Canadian healthcare system is the long wait times when it comes to public healthcare. In Canada the death rate from Covid was three times less than in the US.
It is important to note that it is possible for the US to provide health insurance to all of its citizens but it would be a difficult hump to get over. The politics behind healthcare is a major roadblock. The US has one of the lowest healthcare outcome percentages in the world even though we outspend most other nations.
PBS did an amazing job in teaching the audience about healthcare and the different systems. We can learn a lot form this video including the positives and negatives from all different types of healthcare. We were able to see the future challenges that each system might face. At the end of the day every country wants to be able to protect and provide for their citizens and in doing this all countries are working to better their healthcare systems . I think that we can all agree that no matter what kind of healthcare system a nation has nobody was prepared for Covid 19. That was shown in the video, every country was shown to had to deal with their own struggles. I think we can all agree that Covid has given us all the opportunity to look at the downfalls of our healthcare system so that we can hopefully make it better in the future.