Characteristics and Components of the US Health Care Delivery System

Health Care Delivery
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Health Care Delivery
Introduction
Embedded in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), achieving universal healthcare coverage across the world is a modern-day ambition. Universal healthcare is founded on the premise that each and every one has the right to access healthcare services and should not be undermined by financial constraints or other barriers (Bichay, 2020). Thus, providing high-quality care is the aim of every government. A number of first-world economies and countries have made considerable strides toward attaining the objective of universal healthcare coverage. Through the National Health Service (NHS), the United Kingdom has adopted one of the most ambitious healthcare systems, providing free healthcare services to all residents (Shrank et al., 2019). However, the United States has failed over the years to achieve this goal. Despite heightened spending and adopting different systems, healthcare delivery in the country remains a major challenge.
Discussion
The United States spends a lot on healthcare as compared to its counterparts across the world. According to data obtained from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2019, the United States spent approximately $11,070 per capita on healthcare (Riley, 2022). The latter number represents more than twice the average of other OECD members. While, on average, OECD member countries spend approximately 8.8% of their Gross Domestic Product, the United States spends approximately 18% of its GDP (Riley, 2022). The high cost of healthcare in the United States is majorly attributed to the relatively high costs of services and pharmaceutical products as compared to other countries (Commonwealth Fund, 2015 ). Thus, becoming one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world.
Unlike the relatively higher income earners in the country, the poor lack proper access to healthcare in the United States. Unlike other healthcare systems in the world, like the United Kingdom healthcare systems, healthcare insurance in the United States is provided by the private sector (Greenwald, 2022). Poor health outcomes among the poor are also associated with low income. Low-income earners are less likely to have access to ideal insurance plans, have ready access to specialty and primary care, and receive drugs in case of chronic illnesses. Low-income earners are thus subjects of avoidable deaths and comorbidities, especially from non-communicable diseases (Greenwald, 2022). Majority of the poor persons in the country belong to minority groups that face other barriers like racism and discrimination, limiting their access to healthcare services.
As compared to other first-world countries, the United States compares poorly in major healthcare outcomes and other relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). One of the key measures of healthcare performance is expenditure on healthcare per person. It is indicated that the United States spends more than any other country on health per person, with average spending of $12,381 per person in 2021, as compared to German’s $7,383 expenditure per capita in the same period (Greenwald, 2...