Healthcare Look around the World

Healthcare is vitally important to human life expectancy, but access to it varies around the world. To help understand the difference in healthcare of each country, some factors have to be considered. These factors include:
·         GDP spending
·         Life expectancy
·         Healthcare coverage (is it universal?)
·         Hospital beds per population of 100000 and
·         Primary doctor/100 people
Some large or richer countries in the world such as U.S, UK, Germany, France, Spain and Canada were chosen for analysis. Below are factors that make healthcare different in different countries 

    
1. Hospital beds

Germany is the country which has recorded the highest number of hospital beds. This is according to recent statistics that say that the country does not only have high number of beds, but also the highest number relative to the size of the population. Germany has 823 beds for a population of 100,000. Bulgaria, Austria and Lithuania are countries that recorded more than 700 beds per 100,000. The average number of beds for 28 countries in the EU is 521 per 100000 inhabitants.

United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Ireland have the lowest number of beds per population of 100000. They all have 300 hospital beds per 100000.

According to statistics collected in 2014, Cyprus had the biggest share of curative care beds of 100% followed by Portugal (98%), Denmark (97 percent), and Ireland (94 percent).

Long-term care beds were accounted for 20 percent less than the total number of beds in each hospital around the globe. Czech Republic had 24 percent, Hungary (30%) and Finland (30 percent). These were the countries that recorded higher shares.


2.       GDP spending and life expectancy
United States is the western country that spends the most on health care. In 2014 alone, more than 17.1% of the states’ GDP went to healthcare. U.S spends far more on healthcare compared to any other country in the world. Even with this, life expectancy of U.S population is lot longer compared to that in other countries that spend less on healthcare.

If we happen to look at the trend for bigger countries in the world, we see there is an upward trajectory. This means that the life expectancy increases as the expenditure increases. This has led to a great inequality between US and other big countries. US health spending per capita is more than three times that of other rich countries. Life expectancy in the countries that spend less in healthcare is higher compared to that of higher spenders such as US.

Private spending
In 2013 alone, the average US patient spent $1,074 out of the pocket on health are. This was for things such as doctor’s co-payment, insurance deductibles and prescription of drugs. Switzerland is the only country which spent more than $1,630 that year with Holland and France spending as much as $270 and 277 respectively. For private health spending especially by use of private insurance, US spent five times more than Canada which is the second most spending.

Public spending
Public spending in the United States amounted to about $4,197 per capita in 2013. This is more than any other country around the world except Holland ($4,495 and Norway ($4,981). US were the only country recorded to have no universal healthcare system among the three countries. In 2013, about 34% residents were covered by public programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. To compare this to that of the United Kingdom, every resident in the UK is covered by a public system and spending per capita was $2,802. Public spending per capita in the U.S would even be more in case the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored healthinsurance was to be counted as a public expenditure.
Source


3.       Health coverage

According to the current trend in many countries, healthcare should be free at the point of delivery. There is a fee structure but the patient should be served first because life comes before money.

Below is what patients pay to see a doctor in the top five countries:
  •          U.S- $30 to $200 depending of the type of insurance
  •          Germany- $5 to $11
  •          France- $25, however some of it is reimbursed later.
  •          United Kingdom- Free
  •          Canada – Free

Most patients around the globe pay their medical bill through insurance. However, in some countries such as U.S where there are private insurance based models, health coverage becomes difficult for the uninsured and unemployed. This leads to insurance companies working towards profit leading to more division and less universal coverage.

According to recent studies, if you have a lot of cash, you definitely get good health care in countries such as U.S. if you have little money, you don’t fit into the system. United Kingdom is the country that pays least per patient in western countries.

Compared to the US, Europe’s universal coverage with social fund and tax, spend less and have more and better care. Some countries in Europe still have patients using private insurance. Around 11% of the UK population uses private insurance mainly through employers.

Germany has top earners who can opt out of the public healthcare system and pay privately. This category represents about 10% of the German population. At the core of all debates in healthcare, money alone cannot be the solution. It is the healthcare model that matters most.
Numbers of people without insurance coverage in some top countries include:
  •          United States- 9.1 percent
  •          Germany- 0.2 percent
  •          France- 0.1 percent
  •          United Kingdom- 0 percent
  •          Canada- 0 percent


4.       Primary doctor/1000 patients

According to recent reports, access to healthcare around the globe is good but quality of care is the only problem in many countries. According to statistics, countries such as France and Germany spent 11.5% and 11.3% of their GDP in 2014. These two countries have more beds per capita, longer life expectancies and more doctor/1000 patient.

Numbers of doctors per 1000 patients in some selected countries include:
  •          United States- 2.6
  •          United Kingdom- 2.8
  •          Canada- 2.5
  •          France- 3.1
  •          Germany- 4.1


Number of primary doctors per 1000 patients matters a lot since it determines the quality of care, cost of care, and convenience. 

Location: New York, NY, USA

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