Inequality in US Health Care System

Table of Contents

Introduction 4
I. Cost/Performance ratio 5
II. Accessibility to health care 6
III. Satisfaction with health care system 7
IV. Health and well-being 11
Conclusion 12
Bibliography 14

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

----- Martine Luther King, Jr.

“One in seven Americans, including more than 8 million children, does not have even basic healthcare coverage.”

----- Dave Reichert

Introduction

Political figures and insurance companies state that the US has the best health care system in the world, many people however do not agree with this assertion, especially the 46 million people in the US without health insurance. The rising costs of health care and the lack of access to health care are becoming major issues, and many health care professionals have begun to voice their concerns about a potential future crisis in the US health care system.[1]

How do we know when a health care system is “successful” – that is how well it performs its job – and “fair”, in terms of cost, accessibility, overall satisfaction and heath outcomes in a population? The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report in 2000, in which it outlined three goals for a ‘good’ health care system: it should make the health status of the entire population as good as possible across the whole country; it should respond to people’s expectations of respectful treatment and client orientation by the health care providers; it should ensure financial protection for everyone, with costs distributed according to one’s ability to pay.[2]

Cost / Performance ratio

In making comparison of ‘successful’ health care systems, several basic facts emerged: the United States has – by far – the most expensive health care system in the world, based on health expenditures per capita and on total expenditures as a percentage of GDP. The United