The Per Capita Health Care Expenditures for Essay

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The per capita health care expenditures for the United States are exorbitant, particularly when compared to those of other countries. In fact, the spending on health care per person in the U.S. is much more so than that of other developed countries. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the U.S. led the world in healthcare expenditures per capita at a rate of $8,508 for each person-which translates to approximately 17.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (OECD, 2011). Neighboring Canada, meanwhile, spends approximately half of that amount, $4,522, which translates to nearly 11 percent of its GDP. The country that comes the closest to the United States in these two areas of spending is Norway, a developed country in Europe, which spends about $5,669 per person or 11 percent of its GDP. It is interesting to note that a country such as Mexico, which is still considered developed yet is plagued with the sort of economic difficulties that are exacerbated by countries that are still developing, spends nearly $1,000 per person which is equivalent to about 6.2 percent of its GDP.
These figures present some significant ramifications about the state of global health care and the sorts of things that countries can attempt to do to prepare to maintain the health of their citizens-or cure those that are in need. On the one hand, the excessively high per capita expenditure in this area of the United States is indicative of the fact that the country does have the funds available for this sort of spending.

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However, it also indicates that spending is increasing in this area disproportionate to the country's income-which is a global trend that has been increasing throughout the past several years (Kaiser, 2011). On the other hand, it also indicates that the U.S. is a country that has a need to spend more (meaning that its citizens have more healthcare issues). For the most part, developed countries can spend more than non-developed countries, regardless of the reason why.
Therefore, when it comes to determining strategies that one can deploy to improve America's health outcome on global health indicators, it is necessary to consider both its strengths and weaknesses. Since the U.S. is a developed country and is able to spend a considerable amount of money on healthcare per person, some of the basic health care indicators that tend to plague undeveloped countries do not apply to it. Good examples of these indicators include infant mortality rates, life expectancy at birth, maternal mortality ratios, and other indicators that are virtually neutralized by living in a developed country with relative sanitized conditions. As such, current global health epidemics such as the Ebola virus have not reached epidemic proportions in this country. Another global health concern at the moment is avian influenza (WHO, 2015). Although the U.S has not reached epidemic rates for this particular form of illness, it could utilize some….....

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