A Complete Guide To Health Care
The term health-care is the provision of medical facilities plus the general prevention and management of sickness using paid medical resources. Although The World Health Organization would like to see the term extended to include all people whether an individual or whole populations. The organized provision of such services may constitute a healthcare system.
The term health care has not always been used though and prior to this is it was often just referred to medicine or the health sector but this was used more by English speaking nations. Most developed and even developing nations have a system of healthcare for all to cater for those who cannot pay. It was the UK that pioneered the first population based health care system back in 1948 called The National Health Service run by each consecutive government.
Alternatively a system of compulsory government funded health insurance with nominal fees can be provided, as with Italy, which, according to The WHO, has the second-best health system in the world. Two other systems like that in Italy, both using the name Medicare, one in Australia and the other in Canada were started between the late 1960’s and the early 1980’s. Still, these systems of health care where everyone benefits from a government based service contrast starkly with those in The United States where almost all health care is paid for through the provision of insurance schemes or privately. people who work in healthcare include all professionals whose job it is to preserve life, treat and cure sickness and try to better the health of people. The collective term for this is the healthcare industry but the word industry may not necessarily be the best one to use.
Whether you use the phrase healthcare industry or not, it is still one of the fastest growing around the world with an average cost of ten percent of gross domestic product it also plays a large part in the economy of any country. Although in 2003 the health care costs paid to across the entire healthcare system, consumed 15.3 percent of the GDP of America, the largest of any country in the world and is expected to reach almost twenty percent of GDP by 2016.
In America there are 180 million Americans who want health care and a recent study showed that it was the number one concern of those seeking work. Numerous large companies in America are feeling the effects of these rises in health care provision and an extreme case was where the car giant General Motors was seriously considering bankruptcy because of it. As luck would have it, negotiations between the Union and GM management made a deal to reduce some of the benefits but keep operating as usual but the were force to sell off their under performing finance arm GMAC.
The American healthcare system costs a great deal to employers but it is the number one thing that potential employees look for in an employer and has seen many changes in how people view working for any given company. Maybe it is time health care was looked at in a different way and perhaps called health preservation with an accent on fitness and health to ease the need for a top heavy health care system which is becoming a international problem.
April 04 2009 06:56 am | Health