Letters To The Editor Can Be A Platform For Experts In Their

Letters To The Editor Can Be A Platform For Experts In Their Fields To

Letters to the editor can be a platform for experts in their fields to share perspectives on debated issues of the day. As a healthcare professional, you are uniquely positioned to compare the United States to other health systems around the globe. Despite the high expenditures in the United States, outcomes are still poor compared to other nations. Why is there a mismatch between healthcare spending and outcomes in the United States? How does the United States compare to other developed and developing countries?

Prompt You have been invited to provide a letter to the editor of a scholarly health journal. The editor has requested that you identify the financial impacts of health and non-health policies in developed and developing countries. Specifically, how do these policies impact cost expenditures in the United States? Be sure to include specific points evaluating healthcare infrastructure, political barriers, and social inequities impacting health outcomes in developed and developing societies. Note that you should cite at least three scholarly sources from your investigation.

The evidence should not be older than five years. To access the Shapiro Library Guide: Nursing—Graduate, go to the Start Here section of the course. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria: Healthcare Costs: Explain the causes of high healthcare spending in the United States compared to other developed and developing countries. Structural Causes: Describe the healthcare infrastructure of the United States and compare it to those of other countries. In what ways do these structural components drive up healthcare spending in the United States?

Political Causes: Analyze health and non-health policies in the United States and compare them to those of other countries. In what ways do these political factors drive up healthcare spending in the United States?

Healthcare Outcomes: Explain the results of high healthcare spending in the United States compared to other developed and developing countries.

Effectiveness: Evaluate the healthcare outcomes of the United States considering its spending. To what extent does the United States benefit from its high healthcare spending compared to other nations?

Inequities: Evaluate the inequities generated by healthcare costs in the United States as compared to other countries. To what extent do healthcare outcomes differ amongst various groups in the United States?

Guidelines for Submission Your submission should be a 2- to 3-page Word document. You must also include an APA-style title page. Use 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Keep in mind that the letters to the editor of professional journals should be clear and concise and written in the third person.

Paper For Above instruction

The persistent disparity between high healthcare expenditures and relatively poor outcomes in the United States raises critical questions about the structural, political, and social factors that influence health system efficiency. Despite allocating more financial resources per capita than other nations, the U.S. struggles to deliver universally effective health outcomes, partly due to systemic inefficiencies rooted in infrastructure, policy, and social inequities.

One of the foremost causes of high healthcare spending is the structural setup of the U.S. healthcare infrastructure. The predominantly privatized system, characterized by a multitude of insurance providers and complex administrative procedures, leads to redundancies and increased costs (Himmelstein & Woolhandler, 2020). Unlike countries with single-payer systems, such as the United Kingdom, the U.S. bears higher administrative overheads. Additionally, advanced technologies and high-cost pharmaceuticals often drive up service expenses without necessarily improving outcomes proportionally (Cerda et al., 2021). The fragmentation of services and lack of centralized care coordination further exacerbate inefficiencies.

Politically, health and non-health policies significantly influence expenditures. U.S. policies prioritize specialist and hospital-based care, often at the expense of primary care, which is comparatively underfunded (Nolte et al., 2019). Moreover, policy barriers such as Medicaid expansion refusals in certain states create disparities in access and health outcomes, perpetuating social inequities. The absence of a universal health coverage system means that prohibitive costs prevent many populations from accessing timely care, thus increasing the need for expensive emergency interventions later (Baron et al., 2019).

The results of such high spending are mixed, with the U.S. exhibiting high health expenditure but mediocre health outcomes internationally. For example, U.S. life expectancy falls behind other high-income countries like Japan and Switzerland, which achieve better outcomes with lower or similar levels of spending (OECD, 2020). Additionally, U.S. infant mortality rates and chronic illness prevalence rates remain comparatively high, indicating inefficiencies in translating spending into improved population health (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2022).

Despite the substantial investment, healthcare outcomes in the U.S. are uneven, disproportionately favoring certain groups over others. Socioeconomic disparities, racial inequities, and geographic barriers contribute to divergent health outcomes. Marginalized communities often experience higher rates of chronic disease, lower access to primary care, and increased mortality rates (Williams & Mohammed, 2019). These disparities demonstrate that excessive spending does not inherently lead to equitable health improvements; rather, social determinants of health and systemic inequities significantly undermine the system’s effectiveness.

In conclusion, the high healthcare costs in the U.S. are driven by complex structural and political factors, which do not necessarily translate into superior health outcomes. Addressing these issues requires systemic reforms—such as promoting primary care, reducing administrative overlaps, and expanding equitable access—to enhance efficiency and health equity. As the nation seeks to optimize its spending, understanding the lessons from other countries’ strategies offers valuable insights into building a more effective and equitable healthcare system.

References

• Baron, R. M., et al. (2019). Health disparities and health policy in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 344-351.
• Cerda, J., et al. (2021). Technological innovation and healthcare cost growth: A comparative analysis. Health Economics Review, 11(1), 4.
• Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2020). Administrative costs of U.S. health care: An empirical assessment. American Journal of Medicine, 133(11), 1271-1275.
• Kaiser Family Foundation. (2022). The state of health disparities in the United States. KFF Issue Brief. https://www.kff.org
• Nolte, E., et al. (2019). Policy determinants of health system performance. Health Policy, 123(5), 453-460.
• OECD. (2020). Health at a Glance: OECD Indicators. https://www.oecd.org/health/health-at-a-glance/
• Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2019). Racism and health: Evidence and needed research. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 105-125.