Is America the best on world health insurance scale?

Contrary to popular belief, America is not the leader in providing the best health care for its citizens. It probably is the best provider of medical facilities for the patients but health care? NO. So, if the facilities are available, why are they not available to the people when the need arises? The reason is cost – Cost of treatment, cost of medicine, cost of doctors, cost of insurance…cost of health care. America is the costliest amongst all developed countries when it comes to health care and the ratio between insured versus non insured is the least amongst the developed nations. We will take a look at the main contributors for this dismal performance.

Disparity in health care: The high costs of medical care and insurance has created a big disparity between the type of health care received by the rich and poor class people. The rich get the best facilities that are available but the poor cannot afford it. The current cost of health insurance stands almost at par with the earnings of a minimum wage worker and under such a scenario, it is improbable for this wage worker to be covered by an adequate health insurance. Millions of such people do not take any kind of insurance and as a result do not treat ailments at the right time. All the best facilities that are made available to the public remain largely unaffordable and under utilized.

Health Insurance norms: A major part of American health insurance market is run by private players who force the insured to bear a large sum of the total treatment cost in any claim. Unlike most other developed countries, there is no government diktat that deems the insurance companies to minimize it. This relatively high cost, in spite of having insurance, has put off many a potential health insurance buyer.

Lack of proper initial treatment: Americans tend to put off treatment for ailments. They so not take the correct treatment at the beginning stages. High costs and lack of health insurance are the main reasons behind it. This in turn leads to complex and costly treatments for all ailments, at various stages of advancement, thereby increasing the overall health care cost.

Now, when we compare this on the world health insurance scale, we find that almost all other developed countries have government specified (and most often, guaranteed) health care for all their citizens. Each one of the first world citizens not only have access to the latest medical facilities, they also have their costs covered by their respective governments. The government in the US has only broad guidelines but no specific regulations. It leaves the field open for exploitation by the private insurance companies who (but naturally) have linked the insurance costs to the earning potential of the people. Unless the government makes radical changes in the policies and regulations that govern heath care in the US, we will continue to find the country  fare pooring on the world health insurance scale.

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