U.S. Vs. The Indian Health Care Systems Essay

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U.S. Vs. India Health Care Systems

THE INDIAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS

Health care refers to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, ailments, and other body malefactions. It refers to measures such as purchasing medical supplies, training, and hiring of medical personnel, financing research in the medical field and supporting treatment of patients (Stavans, 2010). The government and the private sector majorly provide this role. In most of the developed countries, private sector operators provide quality health care while the government only takes care of the medical care for the poor in the society.

The health care systems of the U.S. And India are different as seen from their unique characteristics. The U.S. health care system is run by the federal states and the private sector. It is advanced in terms of quality as seen from the beneficiaries' life expectancy. U.S.s' life expectancy is at a record high of 75 years. In contrast, India's health care system is supported by the unitary government and is provided on a universal basis. There are few private sector operators in India unlike in the case of the U.S. Comparatively; the Indian life expectancy is quite down at 64 years. The following study focuses on the similarities and differences between the U.S. And the Indian healthcare sector.

An analysis of the U.S. health care system

The United States' health care system is the most elaborate health care systems in the world per country ranking. The country has been ranked as a leading globally in terms of health care spending per capita. The federal governments meet 20% of healthcare costs while the private sector covers the remaining 80% of the population (Shi & Singh, 2012).This ratio shows that the people use the private health care facilities more than the public ones. The public health care facilities are mainly meant for the underprivileged in the society. Those who cannot meet the high cost of the medication can have some decent treatment and medical attention from the state (Shi & Singh, 2012). The government has come up with plans meant to finance the provision of health care to its citizens. This is done through such schemes as the Medicare plan, Medicaid among other insurance schemes. Initially, the state only catered for the insurance schemes for the old members of the society. However, the Obama administration recently introduced the Universal health care plan. The difference that this new plan has over the previous Medicare program is that everyone is included in the new plan. The state has ensured that everyone in the U.S. can access quality and affordable health care from the state (Stavans, 2010)

The health care system also has a large pool of physicians. The term physician is used in the U.S. To mean anyone who has attained the minimum training required to be admitted to the medical field. These include those who have trained in the U.S. Or those immigrant medics who have undergone the certification and acquired the license of practice to be a U.S. physician (Shi & Singh, 2012). The U.S. government has been on a mission to create a sufficient pool of medics for a long time. This has been done through the issuing of visas and green cards to trained doctors from all over the world.

An analysis of the Indian health care system

The health care system in India is mainly provided by the private sector, just like in the U.S. The government steps in to provide basic medical attention to the poor among the members of the society. They do this through the many public hospitals established in the rural and remote parts of the country. The main beneficiaries are those in those women and children from poor backgrounds. Unlike in the U.S., the medical cover for most citizens is billed on the individual citizens instead of the government (Nightingale, & McDonald, 2006). The only part that the government has done to boost the health care provided is by subsidizing the cost of drugs offered through the public hospitals. Another unique feature of the health care sector in India is that there is a heavy presence of the traditional medical care available. Most of the rural people prefer the traditional medicine purely because of their low cost and ease of access.

The strength of the health care systems in the two countries

The U.S. health care system has a number of strengths that have made the country stand among the world's countries with the best medical services. The U.S. health care system is fully funded by the government.

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As strength, this happens through the universal health care plan introduced by the Obama administration where every U.S. citizen has a right to access quality and affordable health care anywhere in the country. The government has guaranteed the existence of a sufficient pool of well-trained medical personnel across the country (Shi & Singh, 2012). Research in the medical field is also at an advanced state. The government has constructed sufficient laboratories, which are well equipped, and that researchers are entitled to sufficient state funding.

The Indian healthcare sector also has a number of strengths. First, its traditional sector is well advanced and has the following of many rural folks. The fact that the traditional medicine is cheap yet effective is an advantage to the citizens since that they are poor. The other strength that the Indian health sector has is that the government subsidizes the cost of medicines available in all public hospitals (Shi & Singh, 2012). This makes the medication affordable, especially given the reality that a larger percentage of the Indian population is mainly poor. Finally, most of the urban hospitals in India are well established to the point that they meet the western standards (Stavans, 2010)

The weaknesses of the health care systems in the two countries

The U.S.' health care system faces a number of weaknesses. One weakness is that the cost of non-insured medication is very high. There has not been any government subsidy on this cost. The other weakness is that the proportion of the medical personnel, despite their large numbers, to that of the general population is not satisfactory. The U.S. population is very high as it keeps increasing even despite the government's efforts to maintain a sustainable size. The main avenue for the unprecedented growth and increase in the population is the issue of illegal immigrants. Sustainability of the universal health care program is also an issue of concern. The reason as to why such is the case is the extremely high costs of running the project. The government has had to increase taxation in order to finance this very ambitious plan (Stavans, 2010).

In India, the presence of weaknesses the healthcare system, first has all to do with accessibility. Most of the residential places in India are in remote areas. The country has also not done much to upgrade its infrastructures such as roads and a sufficient number of hospitals. This makes it hard for citizens to access medical services readily. The other weakness is that there is acutely insufficient number of trained medical personnel in India. Clinical officers are mostly poorly trained run most of the hospitals. (Nightingale & McDonald, 2006).This is a serious. drawback in the desire to have a sound medical management system. Indians also lack a good public medical provision program. This is because of issues to do with funding.

Similarities and Differences of the two systems

One similarity that both countries have is that the governments in either case have established a good plan to alleviate the suffering of the people present. The U.S. government does it by educating the doctors while the role is performed through government subsidies that will help research in India. Secondly, health care funding in the U.S. is done by the state while in India; the individuals do it. There are no traditional healers in the U.S. As in the case of India. The nature of healthcare services also especially in terms of where they are provided. Medical services in India can be given in the street while strictly in medical centers in the U.S. (Shi & Singh, 2012).

Conclusion

Health care services in any country depend on a number of factors. These factors are mainly government-induced. The level of health care has a strong positive correlation with the state of the country's economy. Those countries with good and sound economic status have appropriate efforts instituted to have the best medical service provision achieved. Evidently, the U.S.' system is better unlike the Indian one. The U.S. health care system surpasses the India one in terms of accessibility, cost, and quality (Shi & Singh, 2012). From the advanced U.S. infrastructure, there, is better ease of accessibility of health services compared to India. The role of the government in providing quality healthcare to its citizens cannot be downplayed. As is evident in this study, high life expectancy is a product of quality healthcare. Wherever possible, the government must channel significant funds to the healthcare….....

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