Compare and Contrast Essay on US vs. Germany Healthcare

Introduction

Healthcare systems in the United States' and Germany contrast and compares in various ways. Germany's healthcare system is grouped as socialized since its economy is the third richest worldwide. Germany has a universal healthcare system which implies that everyone contributes to it, unlike the US system, which is not universal with private, state, federal, and the public providing towards it (Schoen et al., 2006). Healthcare in the US is thus significantly higher as compared to the same in Germany.

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Access

Healthcare access in Germany is for every citizen with no barriers imposed. Everyone is treated equally without any discrimination, and patients have access to both public and private healthcare. A new policy was, however, initiated in the US demanding the healthcare system be affordable to each of its citizen (Von dem Knesebeck et al., 2008). The US prices for drugs charged by the manufacturers to distributors and wholesalers are 1.8 times higher than in Germany which attributes for their high-cost healthcare systems.US, and Germany's systems, however, resemble in that they are both financed by several private payers.

The Germans, however, ensures that both the employers and employees contribute a fee for the medical cover but exempts the children under the age of 18 years and for the unemployed who are not well up enough to contribute, the government provides on their behave (Schoen et al., 2006). The retired seniors are required to contribute a small portion, and the government does the rest, however, for the US government, the unemployed are denied free healthcare services where they have to pay to be taken care of. Healthcare cover is withdrawn the very moment they are rendered jobless (Ridic, Gleason, & Ridic, 2012). The retired seniors are also denied the insurance cover, and this may lead to poverty levels increasing.in the case of the children, not all that can access the shelter due to economic disparities.

Coverage of Medications

Germany's citizens are all covered under the public health care system, and this is inclusive of the unemployed, retired seniors and the children (Hirth, Greer, Albert, Young, & Piette, 2008). Expectant mothers are also taken care off where they enjoy free services including free therapies whereas in the US Medicare covers the retired seniors only and the children by Medicaid if their parents have no any access to healthcare cover.

Retired seniors do not qualify for Medicaid cover unless they are above 65 years. In the case where one finds himself/herself unemployed, the healthcare cover is withdrawn. With that information, it is, however, nearly 85% of the population in the US that enjoys healthcare cover and approximately 48 million left out (Hirth et al., 2008). High insurance cost is the primary reason as to why this large number of people is left out, unlike in Germany, where everyone enjoys the medical cover.

Referral to See a Specialist

For a Germany citizen to visit or see a specialist, one is required to be under the German healthcare cover for their cost to be subsidized and in most cases referred by a family doctor/GP. A direct appointment with a specialist without the consent of the GP is also acceptable. One has to wait for days or several weeks concerning the specialist treatment needed (von dem Knesebeck et al., 2008). Similarly, in the US a permit from your personal or home doctor is also required, but the subsidized cost only applies to the insured people meaning unemployed citizens suffers high-cost services unlike for the Germans where they enjoy low-cost services.

Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions

Both the US and Germany healthcare systems allow someone with a pre-existing condition such as diabetes, cancer, or even asthma a right to cover. Once the patient has a healthcare cover can enjoy the treatment for his pre-existing condition (Holtz-Eakin, 1993).In Germany, however, people with pre-existing conditions enjoy high premiums.

Finance Implications for Healthcare Delivery

Healthcare cost control by the Germany government is to ensure that each of its citizens receives the same kind of healthcare services and also to make sure the healthcare is in line with the revenues allocated for the health system. To achieve that, the government introduced the statutory funds which are referred to as the sickness funds where both the employer and an employee opt to contribute a certain fee (Ehrbeck, Henke, & Kibasi, 2010).

This contribution is said to cover 90% of its citizens (Ehrbeck et al., 2010). 10% of the population enjoys private insurance, and their premiums vary with the risk of the patient. 10% of the healthcare service is taken care of by the tax subsidies.in some cases like drug prescriptions, patients are required to pay out of their pockets (Wagstaff & Van Doorslaer, 2000). On the other hand, the US payment is made by programs initiated by the government, such as Medicaid and Medicare. Also, employers who seek private health cover and then last is the funds from peoples own pockets.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can, therefore, be concluded that Germany has a better healthcare system as compared to that of the US and thus the need for the US to adopt some of the practices from the Germany government to ensure its citizens receive equal and better healthcare services at a pocket-friendly cost for all its citizens.

References

Ehrbeck, T., Henke, N., & Kibasi, T. (2010). The emerging market in health care innovation. McKinsey Quarterly, 1-5.Retrieved from https://healthcare.mckinsey.com/sites/default/files/776858_The_Emerging_Market_in_Health_Care_Innovation.pdf

Hirth, R. A., Greer, S. L., Albert, J. M., Young, E. W., & Piette, J. D. (2008). Out-of-pocket spending and medication adherence among dialysis patients in twelve countries. Health Affairs, 27(1), 89-102. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.27.1.89

Holtz-Eakin, D., (1993). Health Insurance Provision and Labor Market Efficiency in the United States (No. w4388). National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w4388.pdf

Ridic, G., Gleason, S., & Ridic, O. (2012). Comparisons of health care systems in the United States, Germany, and Canada. Material socio-media, 24(2), 112. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3633404/

Schoen, C., Osborn, R., Huynh, P. T., Doty, M., Peugh, J., & Zapert, K. (2006). On the front lines of care: primary care doctors' office systems, experiences, and views in seven countries. Health Affairs, 25(6), w555-w571. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.25.w555

Von dem Knesebeck, O., Bonte, M., Siegrist, J., Marceau, L., Link, C., Arber, S., & McKinlay, J. (2008). Country differences in the diagnosis and management of coronary heart disease-a comparison between the US, the UK, and Germany. BMC Health Services Research, 8(1), 198. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6963-8-198

Wagstaff, A., & Van Doorslaer, E. (2000). Equity in health care finance and delivery. Handbook of health economics, 1, 1803-1862. Retrieved from http://ssu.ac.ir/fileadmin/templates/fa/daneshkadaha/daneshkade-behdasht/manager_group/upload_manager_group/manabe_elmi/e-book/english/edalat_dar_nezame_salamat/15.EQUITY_IN_HEALTH_CARE_FINANCE_AND_DELIVERY.pdf