Healthcare in the United States vs. Healthcare in the United Kingdom

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JB
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“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Background

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the Healthcare system in the United States versus the Healthcare system in the United Kingdom. When comparing the healthcare systems of the two countries the first thing that should be done is determining the differences between a “Good Healthcare System, which is the best attainable average level and a Fair Healthcare System, which is the smallest feasible differences among individuals and groups.” Ibid., p. 27-35 Data also analyzed in Gerard Anderson and …show more content…

“The U.S. is the only county in the developed world, except for South Africa, that does not provide health care for all its citizens.” Stephen M. Ayres, M.D.; Health Care in the United States: The Facts and the Choices. Chicago and London: American Library Association: 1996, p. xii. South Africa, while providing universal coverage in principle, has not extended universal access in practice to all of its townships. (Ida Hellander, personal communication, 6/25/01, Physicians for a National Health Plan). “People without health insurance tend to live sicker and die younger than people with health insurance.” The ACP-ASIM statement to the Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing on the Nation’s Uninsured (ibid) In the U.K. the entire general population has access to healthcare, although at times they run across problems with that when it comes to a homeless person walking into a hospital seeking treatment due to the lack of having a physical address; however, the patient still receives treatment.

Health and Well-Being The infant mortality rates (infant deaths per 1000 live births rank the highest amongst the other OECD countries at 6.8 compared to 5.1 for the U.K. “The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world but has higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes, and many other ills than any other developed country.” (Reuters).

Responsiveness Although the United