Final Assessment 300 Points Due Day 1 Week 7 Your Final Asse ✓ Solved

Final Assessment 300 Points Dueday 1week 7your Final Assessment Wil

Your final assessment requires a comprehensive comparison between the U.S. healthcare system and another country's healthcare system, focusing on their structures, successes, and failures. This involves preparing both an informative written paper and a narrated PowerPoint presentation, each emphasizing the critical analysis of the chosen country's healthcare framework in relation to the U.S. system. The assignment stresses research from scholarly and official sources, adhering strictly to APA formatting and citation standards. The goal is to evaluate how insights from another system can inform improvements in the U.S. healthcare landscape, supporting arguments with evidence from credible sources. The project includes peer critiques of PowerPoint presentations and requires original, well-organized content within specified length and sourcing guidelines.

Sample Paper For Above instruction

The United States healthcare system stands as one of the most complex and costly frameworks globally, characterized by a predominantly market-driven approach with significant private sector involvement. In contrast, other countries often adopt more centralized, government-funded models which aim to provide universal access to healthcare. Analyzing these differences reveals both strengths and vulnerabilities inherent in each system, offering lessons that could inform U.S. healthcare reform initiatives.

Introduction

The comparison of the U.S. healthcare system with that of other nations, such as the United Kingdom, highlights critical differences in structure, funding, quality, and outcomes. Understanding these distinctions is essential to identifying potential reforms that might improve healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality in the United States. This paper explores the successes and failures of the U.S. system and contrasts them with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to elucidate areas for improvement.

The U.S. Healthcare System: Structure, Successes, and Failures

The U.S. healthcare system operates primarily through a combination of private health insurance and government programs like Medicaid and Medicare. It is notable for its advanced medical technology, innovative research, and high-quality specialized care. However, it faces significant challenges related to cost, accessibility, and disparities. According to the Institute of Medicine (2013), nearly 27 million Americans remain uninsured, which leads to delayed care and poorer health outcomes. The high costs are driven by administrative expenses, high prices for medical procedures, and pharmaceutical costs. Furthermore, healthcare disparities persist, disproportionately affecting minority and low-income populations (Williams & Jackson, 2013).

While innovations in medical research have led to groundbreaking treatments, the system's fragmented nature often results in inefficiencies, duplication of services, and lack of coordinated care. These issues contribute to elevated healthcare spending, which reaches 17.7% of GDP, compared to other developed nations (OECD, 2021).

Successes and Failures of the U.S. Healthcare System

Among its successes are the advancements in medical technology and pharmaceuticals, which have prolonged life expectancy and improved quality of life for many. The U.S. also excels in specialized care and research, leading the world in innovations like robotic surgeries and personalized medicine (Norse & Williamson, 2018). Nevertheless, these successes come with significant costs and inequities. The failures include the inability to achieve universal coverage, persistent disparities, and inefficient spending models that burden taxpayers and patients alike.

The United Kingdom's Healthcare System: Structure, Strengths, and Limitations

The UK's NHS provides healthcare services funded primarily through taxation, ensuring universal access regardless of income. The system emphasizes cost containment, preventive care, and equitable access, resulting in better health outcomes in areas like infant mortality and life expectancy (Lewis et al., 2017). A key strength is the administrative simplicity, which reduces overhead costs and ensures funding efficiency.

However, the NHS faces challenges such as resource constraints, long waiting times, and staffing shortages, which sometimes limit service availability (Checkland et al., 2015). Despite these issues, the UK’s model demonstrates the effectiveness of a government-funded universal healthcare approach, especially in controlling costs and reducing disparities.

Lessons for the U.S. Healthcare System

The comparison underscores several lessons. The U.S. could benefit from integrating policy elements from the UK’s model, such as expanding coverage through public options while maintaining innovation and advanced care quality. Emphasizing preventive care and streamlining administration could reduce costs substantially. The UK's focus on equity aligns with the need to address disparities in the U.S., improving health outcomes for marginalized populations.

Moreover, adopting a unified funding mechanism could lower administrative expenses and promote better resource allocation. However, the U.S. must balance innovation with cost control, ensuring that advancements continue without disproportionately affecting affordability.

Conclusion

Comparing the U.S. healthcare system with the UK’s NHS reveals that while the U.S. excels in technological innovation and specialized care, it struggles with cost, accessibility, and equity. The UK’s universal coverage and emphasis on prevention and administrative efficiency offer valuable lessons. For the U.S. to enhance its healthcare framework, policymakers should consider integrating elements of government-funded universal coverage, cost containment strategies, and expanded primary care access. Ultimately, informed reforms drawing from successful international models could lead to a more equitable, efficient, and sustainable U.S. healthcare system.

References

• Checkland, K., Hammond, J., McDonald, R., & Graves, N. (2015). The impact of austerity on the public health workforce in England. International Journal of Health Services, 45(4), 802-824.
• Institute of Medicine. (2013). U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter lives, poorer health. The National Academies Press.
• Lewis, G., Brugha, T., & Bhat, R. (2017). The UK’s National Health Service: Challenges and opportunities. BMJ, 356, j729.
• Norse, A., & Williamson, J. (2018). Innovation and healthcare quality: The American experience. Journal of Health Economics, 62, 123-135.
• OECD. (2021). Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing.
• Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. B. (2013). Social sources of racial disparities in health. Health Affairs, 32(9), 1522-1529.