Healthcare Vs United States Essay

The United Kingdom and United States have vastly different ideas on how healthcare should be provided to their citizens. The United States has a market based system primarily run by the private sector, while the United Kingdom has the National Health Service(NHS), which is maintained by the government. The difference between these two systems is in the ideology of their governments. The US sees healthcare as a privilege, whereas the UK operates under the belief that healthcare is a right. Although there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems, the net benefit of the UK system is higher than that of the US system. Every country has a limited amount of resources to work with. A country has to choose how much of it’s GDP is going to be used for healthcare, in other words, the medical well being of their citizens. The United States is the highest spender in the world on health care relative to GDP, spending 17.1% annually, while the UK spends 8.8%. This can be credited in part to the fact that …show more content…
The United States has high healthcare costs because of its interest in high tech medical equipment, and technology. While using a lot of money on technological advancements, the United states neglects an integral component of keeping a nation healthy: social services. Compared to other high-income nations, the US spends a meager amount on social services. Social services such as welfare, retirement, and employment programs are designed to aid the well being of a nation's citizens. Since the United States lacks sufficient social services, health problems exacerbate to the point where high-tech medical equipment is the only thing that can save their citizens. Instead of forcing people to purchase such equipment to save their lives, the US government ought to improve the trajectory of the nation's health by implementing better social services, and more regular health