U.s. Health Care System With Japan - 1088 Words

Comparison of the U.S. Health Care System with Japan Introduction Healthcare is a major sector in any country since it determines the health condition of the population. In most countries, the government is charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the well-being of its citizens. In the U.S., for instance, the Liberals believe that it is the obligation of the government to provide people with good health services, whereas the Conservatives prefer them to be privatized (Blahous, 2015). The focus of this study is to compare the healthcare status of the United States of America to that of Japan. The choice of Japan was majorly determined by its economic power, given that it is a developed nation with a tiger economy. Additionally, just†¦show more content†¦Life expectancy at birth recorded at 83.2 and mortality rates are high among the aged due to cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2014). Other risks to health include tobacco smoking and alcoholism. Obesity appears a mong the aged at 3.6% (OECD, 2014). In comparison, it is evident that life expectancy in Japan is higher than in the U.S. and the same applies to child mortality where Japan records lower infant deaths. Apparently, the United States spends a lot of funds to cater for the health of a single person, thus spending much of its GDP on healthcare as compared to Japan. Evidently, Americans are more prone to lifestyle diseases such as obesity, which happens to be common among young people as well as the older generation. Healthcare Financing In the US, a portion of medical services is taken care of by employers as well as by individuals. Moreover, the government has developed programs such as Medicare that cater for both disabled and elderly supported by federal funds (Blahous, 2015). Further, the state and federal funds help support Medicaid that caters for individuals with low income. The Affordable Care Act declares that individuals should not be denied health cover due to their pre-existing health conditions (Elhauge, 2015). It also forbids the insurance companies from dropping people with the