Question

Compare and Contrast the QUALITY of France VS United States Structure of Healthcare System

Answer 1

Ans. : A major difference between the French health care system and the US is the fact that everyone in France has access to health insurance. Every legal citizen of France has the right to use health care, which is covered by the law of universal coverage called la Couverture maladie universelle.

With the Democrats pushing for a government-funded model and President Donald Trump campaigning on repealing Obamacare without a clear alternative, Americans are considering what kind of health care system they may want.

The U.S. health care system has increasingly been the topic of every household for almost two decades. The World Health Organization (WHO), in a comprehensive study carried out in 2000, ranked the U.S. health care system as the highest in cost. Today, the U.S. system is still expensive for many citizens; according to The U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 47 million Americans are without medical coverage. This paper seeks to take a critical view of the U.S. health care system by comparing it with the French system. In addition to health care costs, other issues have been identified, such as

The French Health Care system was chosen because of the increasing interest from a majority of health care experts who regard the French health care system as the model for United States. In addition, the French model has been on the limelight following the results of the 2000 World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems. According to the WHO, France has the best health care system in the world, while the U.S. was ranked at number 37. The brilliant performance by France in the WHO rankings was because of various fronts, mainly: provision of universal coverage, responsive health care providers, patients’ freedom of choice, and the health of the population.

There are various similarities between the United States and the French health care systems. Both systems rely on private insurance as well as government insurance. This is despite the fact that complementary private insurance funds in France are very koosely regulated, in lower rates than in the U.S. In addition, in both systems, the insurance is provided through the employer.

In the French health care system, physicians are private, although patients are registered in national health insurance. The system is also government financed. This resembles the US system, taking the form of Medicare for all. Although in the French system the whole resident population is covered and the benefit package is greater, the system resembles Medicare and Social Security, because it is funded by enforced payroll taxes in addition to a number of income tax contributions. However, doctors work for the most part in private, office-based practices, and there is a mix up of public and private hospitals.

Physician Compensation is another subject that shows significant similarities between the French and the U.S. healthcare systems. The national health insurance system is in charge of paying French doctors, who are paid according to a centrally planned fee schedule, although doctors can charge their price. Notably, the fees are founded on an up front treatment scale, a similar method to DRGs in the United States system. The patient must structure the difference between the amount paid for by the universal health care system and the fee charged by the doctor.

Just like Americans, the French are against restrictions on patient choice. Some Americans consider the French to practice “socialized medicine”, which is not the case. The French system depends on independent private practitioners as opposed to a British-style national health service, a system regarded to as “socialized medicine.”