6.4 Health and Health Insurance
Industrialized nations throughout the world, with the notable exception of the United States, provide their citizens with some form of national health care and national health insurance (Russell, 2018). Although their health care systems differ in several respects, their governments pay all or most of the costs for health care, medicines, and other health needs.
In Denmark, for example, the government provides free medical care and hospitalization for the entire population and pays for some medications and some dental care. In France, the government pays for some of the medical, hospitalization, and medication costs for most people, and all of these expenses for the poor, unemployed, and children under the age of ten. In Great Britain, the National Health Service pays most medical costs for the population, including medical care, hospitalization, prescriptions, dental care, and eyeglasses. In Canada, the National Health Insurance system also pays for most medical costs. Medical debt and bankruptcy due to accidents or disease is a uniquely American problem. The reality is that you can buy trips to countries for a week at a lower price than an ambulance ride, and a two-day hospital stay in the United States is both embarrassing and devastating to the most marginalized communities. People have called Lyft or Uber instead of ambulances to the hospital for medical emergencies.
These national health insurance programs are commonly credited with reducing infant mortality, extending life expectancy, and, more generally, for enabling their citizens to have relatively good health. Notably, the United States ranks 33 out of 36 for infant mortality among countries who belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The infant mortality rate in the United States is 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live infant births, compared to the average rate of 3.9 deaths per 1,000 births. Five countries have death rates lower than 2 per 1,000 births. Their populations are generally healthier than Americans, even though health care spending is much higher per capita in the United States than in these other nations. In all these respects, these national health insurance systems offer several advantages over the health care model found in the United States (Reid, 2010).
Access to Health Care Coverage and Insurance
Access to health care is inequitable in the United States, and as human services practitioners it is critical that we view this as a social problem and not a personal failing. When people have less access to health care, or have to choose between medical visits, prescriptions, food, and housing, they are less likely to be able to achieve and maintain good health.
There are many insurance options in America, and they disproportionately benefit some and disadvantage others based on factors like sex, income, geographical location, and ethnicity. In 2017, some of the most common ways people accessed insurance was throug