Health Status and Health Care Services in China with comparison to the United States

HSM310 Introduction to Health Services Management Course Project
December 12, 2010

A health care system refers to the comprehensive organization, structures and strategies through which Medicare and health care is made available by the government to its citizens. A health care system is a product of countries politics. It is a nations system of governance that will dictate upon the most convenient model of health care to adopt. There is no universally acceptable method, and in adopting each; a government has to take into account a variety of factors, which would range from available finances vis-a-vis the total population. A comparison of two models …show more content…

In the United States, approximately 16% of the American citizens are uncovered. This has been the course of criticism for this system. These countries both exhibit a high level of government involvement in the health service delivery. The Chinese government through the ministry of public health makes immense contributions towards health delivery. The Chinese governments expenditure is at around 6%, which is a gross comparison to that of the United States, however the government plays a key role. The United States federal governments involvement is through Medicaid, Medicare and the children’s insurance program, SCHIP, a scheme introduced in 1997 in the bid to capture those not captured by the Medicaid but still not well up enough for private schemes.
The Chinese system is not elaborately divided as that of the United States. The Medicare for example was established in 1965 under the Lyndon B. Johnson regime and was meant to cater for the aged, those specifically above the age of 65. Like the rural programs introduced recently in China, Medicaid is a scheme introduced in 1965 and expects to provide essential health services to those families with meager earnings. It is managed at the state level. This, in the United States, remains the most elaborate scheme that focuses at the low level income group and whose funding is managed at the state level. While the United States’ woos