Characteristics of the United States Healthcare System

Most developed countries provide universal health care financed by taxes. That is not the case with the United States, where health care is privately provided. Most health facilities are owned by private companies. All Americans are required to have health insurance coverage in order to receive primary health care. There is, however, social insurance as well, which is provided by the U.S. government to cover eligible low-income families and military veterans.

The Private Health Care

• The U.S. health care system is complex. As of 2008, there were 201.7 million Americans with private health care insurance coverage. In addition, 40.3 million Americans were Medicare beneficiaries, while 30.3 million were receiving Medicaid, according to the Census Bureau. The rest of Americans, accounting for 16.7 percent of the population, did not have health insurance. The new health care law intends to reduce the number of people without insurance. Most of the U.S. health care system is privately owned. You must have health insurance, predominantly owned by the private sector, in order to receive primary health care. The health care reforms that came into effect on January 1, 2011 were intended to provide more access, fairness, efficiency and quality.

U.S. Government Health Insurance Coverage

• Private insurance is not cheap. About 62.1 percent of Americans who filed for bankruptcy in 2007 claimed bankruptcy, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the U.S. government provides social insurance programs called Medicare to provide coverage to people aged 65 and older, or people with special needs. The program is financed by payroll taxes. Medicaid is another government administered program for eligible low income families and people with disabilities. This program is jointly funded by the state and federal government.

The Pharmaceutical Industry

• The pharmaceutical industry forms a large part of the American Health system. In order to encourage research and development in the pharmaceutical industry, the U.S. health care system allows the industry to profit from innovation by selling their drugs at a higher price than in other developed countries. Funding for research in pharmaceutical products derives from both the private and public sectors. Because of innovation, the U.S. leads the world in the money it spends on research and development in pharmaceutical products, the number of cutting edge medical drugs and devices. To make drugs affordable, most medical insurance coverages include prescription medicine.