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Alternative Health Care Plans Throughout the World Essay

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In the book, the author Reid discusses the different alternatives and models in healthcare provision that have been embraced by different countries around the world. For America in particular, the author holds the idea that the healthcare system is disastrous and explores other alternatives that can serve as better choices. According to the author, far from the widely held belief that universal healthcare is a universal socialized system, there are multiple and distinct plans that other countries embrace to cover all their citizens. The author brings out then idea that there are four basic models that the over 200 countries around the globe employ. Each model meets the three basic objectives of any health care plan: treating the ill, …show more content…

This system sounds quite familiar to the one that Americans are used to, but there is a striking difference. Unlike in America, the health insurance plans under this model must cover everyone, and they are not-for-profit. In countries where the Bismarck model has been enforced, doctors and hospitals are predominantly private. The regulations under this model give the governments that enforce it most of the cost-control clout that the Beveridge model provides. Another model that the author discusses is National Health Insurance, under which elements of both the Bismarck and the Beveridge models are evident. Every citizen is obliged to contribute to the national health insurance kitty, from which the government uses private health providers to provide health care services. There are some notable elements for the national health insurance system of health care provision: There is no need to market the heath care services, no profits and absolutely no financial gain when denying a claim. Those elements put this model a distance from the American-style one which is for-profit. With a single payer in this system, there is considerable bargaining power for lower prices for healthcare-related services. For instance, the Canadian system has negotiated low prices for medical equipment and drugs- a phenomenon that has seen

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