Health Care in Switzerland
Current health care system of Switzerland is among the most effective systems in Europe, as around 95% of the Swiss population is satisfied with it. It is an example of a universal health care system, i.e. delivering care to all citizens of the country. It is based on the insurance model, which means that all services are provided based on patient insurances. However, they cover all people and do not aim at making profits. All allocations and costs are controlled by the government. In this way, the operation of the health care system is the representation of political and economic development. Due to the stability of these segments of social life, health care system is constantly developing. This statement can be proved by pointing to the statistics of allocations and governmental spending on the sector. That said, it increased by around 65% to $5792 (EUR 5465) per capita and 8% of GDP between 1996 and 2012. In addition, allocations are adjusted for inflation, which supports the constant development of the system. Nevertheless, there are some significant health care issues. Most of them are related to the ageing of population, as standard care plan is guaranteed to increase number of patients, thus entailing the increase of costs. Moreover, there is a challenge of health care system fragmentation, i.e. municipal responsibility for providing home care and governmental responsibility for financing insurances. Also, it leads to the raise of spending. As for now, around 70% of funds are injected by municipalities, while the Confederation is responsible for the remaining 30%(OECD, 2015c).
Health Care in Brazil
Brazilian health care system operates under the universal model. In this way, each citizen has the right to comprehensive and free care both primary and highly specialized. Taxes and contributions are the primary sources of financing public health care. The government is responsible for injecting at least 12 to 15 percent of the state budget in this sector. On the other hand, private health care is financed by businesses and individuals by purchasing insurance plans. This figure is constantly increasing from 18% in 2010 to 26% in 2015. As for expenditures, almost 5% of GPD is spent on health care. However, there is a significant decrease in allocations because around 10% of GDP was invested in this sector in 2013. Still, there are other significant challenges. For instance, only around 48% of people have access to health care. Moreover, there is an issue related to long-term care because according to projections, the number of the elderly patients will increase from 7% to 50% by 2050. In addition, doctors and nurses are poorly trained due to imperfections and underfinancing of professional education. Finally, the efficacy of health care spending is low because the scope of public health care is not determined (OECD, 2015a).
Health Care in Taiwan
In Taiwan, health care system operates based on national insurances. According to it, each citizen with insurance has the right to professional medical care. As for now, almost 99% of citizens are covered by the National Health Insurance program. The rest are provided with private health insurances purchased from commercial insurers. In this country, there are both public and private health care facilities. Like in case of other countries, public care is financed and controlled by the government. Per capita spending increased from $750 in 2000 to $950 in 2011. Around 6% of GDP is spent on financing health care. Public satisfaction with the delivered care is around 80%. The primary advantage of the system is the fact that the resources are sufficient as well as the quality of provided services is high. Nevertheless, there are some critical issues because the distribution of resources is unequal across the country. More than that, there is the limited access to care in terms of the ratio of health care professionals to population (1 active physician per 800 Taiwanese citizens). It means that only 2 to 5 minutes can be devoted to one patient, which jeopardizes the quality of services, especially in distant regions (Aspalter, Uchida, & Gauld, 2012).
Health Care in France
In France, health care system operates based on the universal model, i.e. providing care to all citizens of the country. However, unlike Switzerland, the foundation of the system is a two-tier model, not insurances. In this case, there are both public and private health care facilities, which make up these two tiers. Almost 78% of medical care is covered by the Social Security program, i.e. financed by the government. In France, the rate of health care expenditures is among the highest in Europe, as it is around 9% of GDP. It decreased compared to 10.9% of GDP in 2010. As for now, allocations are approximately $4124 (EUR 3890) per capita. Patient satisfaction is around 77%. Still, there are some issues, which should be mentioned. For instance, health care spending of hospitals is poorly controlled. Moreover, doctors are limited in making prescriptions, which affects the efficacy of treatment and health care system as a whole. In addition, there is a challenge of the ageing population, which increases expenditures on long-term care (OECD, 2015b).
References
Aspalter, C., Uchida, Y., & Gauld, R. (2012). Health care systems in Europe and Asia. New York, NY: Routledge.
OECD. (2015a). OECD economic surveys: Brazil 2015. Paris: OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2015b). OECD economic surveys: France 2015. Paris: OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2015c). OECD economic surveys: Switzerland 2015. Paris: OECD Publishing.