Health Care System

Question: Write an essay to describe about the health care status of two countries Australia and America. Answer: The essay describes about the health care status of two countries Australia and America. The health care performance of both the countries is determined on the basis of following parameters like the - system of fundings, their maternal mortality rate, obesity, asthma, diabetes and others. The health care and its fundings in Australia is given by both the government and private institutions. Sussan Ley, the present federal minister for health, has implemented national health policies while state and territory governments have provided health care elements as per their law in hospitals. In 1984, Medicare was discovered by the federal government, which is a publicly funded universal health care system in Australia. 2% Medicare levy partly provides funds to Medicare. The private health insurance in Australia gives support to the private health and is provided by other health funds also. Medibank is the largest health fund with a 30% market share. It is highly regulated regarding the premiums it sets, but it was discovered to enforce pressure to other health funds so that for keeping their premiums at a minimum level. On the other hand, in the United States, health care is given by various organizations. The healthcare facilities are provided by the private sector businesses. As per the estimation made by the World Health Organization, much of the health care per capita provided by the country in 2011. Medicare, Medicaid, and the children's health insurance program are some of the major programs which provide funding for health care centers. On comparing the governance system of both the countries it was found that the government structure of both the countries are same. The governing system comprises of the legislations, the executives, and the judiciary powers. Some features of Australias government system have not been incorporated in the constitution but are set as per the custom and convention (Berardo Lubell., 2016). The Australian government system follows the United Kingdom model that is a Westminster style of governance. The executive government is responsible to the government. While in United States of America, the executive system is different and is not answerable to the legislations. The type of government system in Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy along with a Commonwealth realm (Brown., 2016). But in America, Constitution- based federal republic system is used. In terms of the legal system, common law system based on English model is followed in Australia while in America at the federal level common law system is used. The US government system is a republic, while Australia is a constitutional monarchy. Voting and Electoral enrollment are mandatory in Australia but are voluntary in America. US legislations require the signature of both the legislative approval and the presidents signature. In Australia, legislation is approved by the governor general as carried forward by both the houses. Selected population health indicators like obesity, diabetes, and others were also compared to both the countries. The maternal mortality rate in America is greater as compared to the Australia. The mortality rate has become double since the 1980s. As per a study conducted by comparing mortality rates in countries England, Australia, and the United States it was found that the maximum number of death incidences occurred in the United States (Campbell et al., 2016). The delivery data was collected for the year 2007- 2013 and were identified using the global comparators program and Dr. Foster database. The survey suggested that 2.7 deaths out of 100, 000 births happened in England while in Australia the rate was 9.6 and in America, the rate was found to be 13.4 deaths (Campbell et al., 2016). As per a report, 99 cases of deaths were found in Australia over the last five years 2006-2010, This amount is same as the value of 6.8 deaths for per 100,000 women who gave delivery to babies in Australia. This value is lesser than previous three years data as observed in session 2003- 2005 and 2000- 2002. For the period of 2003- 05, the rate was 8.4 deaths for every 1,00,000 women who gave birth. For session 2000- 2002, the value seen was 11.1 for every 1,00, 000 women who delivered babies (Campbell et al., 2016). This data are very minute and need to be considered. 57 direct death cases were registered in 2006- 10 and 39 direct death cases of mothers were found. Three cases were also there which were neither considered as direct nor indirect. The main reasons of direct maternal death comprise of embolism (which is blocking of major blood vessels) which happened due to amniotic fluid (resulting in 9 deaths) or blood clot (8), and hemorrhage (7) also. Other main reasons of indirect maternal death were found to be the cardiac disease (15 deaths), resulting in deaths by psychosocial morbidity (associated with mental health and abuse of inhalants problems) (13 deaths). Women with age more than 40 years were at higher risk, but the women who died were in the range of 17 and 45 years. Indigenous women were at higher risk of developing this disease and die more than the non-Indigenous women. They had a maternal death rate of 16.4 deaths for each 100,000 women delivering babies (9 cases). For the period of 1997 to 2010, the main reasons for more number of deaths of indigenous women were found to be due to sepsis and cardiac diseases. For the past few years, it was observed that a maximum number of death cases were related to the women who were pregnant. The number of death cases was 65. In that year, for every 11, 896 women one woman died during birth, the maternal death ratio was found to be 84 for every 100, 000 women giving birth to a child. This value is very much similar and comparable to the other reports of Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) with other countries which are developed. When it comes to the case of deaths of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women, it was found that their death rates were even two times higher than normal women. For non- indigenous women the value was 7.9 deaths per 100, 000 women and normal women have 21.5 death cases per 100, 000 women. The main reasons due to whichdirectmaternal deaths (29) happened were: amniotic fluid embolism thromboembolism hypertension The other main causes due to whichindirectmaternal deaths (36) occurs were: cardiac disease psychiatric related causes non- obstetric hemorrhage On comparing the countries on the basis of infant mortality rate it can be found that the rate is higher in the United States as compared with Australia. Infant mortality rate is the sum of the number of deaths occurring in the children who are under one year of age per 1000 live births. In Australia, the last measured rate was 3.20 in 2014. The main causes of infant death may be pneumonia, tetanus and others (Farrant Shepherd., 2016). The low weight of the baby after birth and premature deliveries can also be one of the reasons of their pre- death. The infant mortality rate in the United States has been decreased near about 13 percent from 2000 to 2013. The United States is though slower in improving the rates of infant deaths, but it has improved a lot (Callaghan., 2016). Other countries have improved about 26 percent as per a report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Viewing at the specific data, it was observed that the neonatal deaths declined by 13 percent in the US from 2000 to 2013. As from the graph, it was estimated that the US is among the highest in infant mortality rate. The higher rate of infant mortality in America as compared to other countries is not due to as they have less number of specialists or facilities for treatment but they have more number of neonatal intensive care beds per person than Australia and Canada. Life Expectancy at Birthcan be said as the number of years a baby will live after his or her birth if they cross the stage of life restricted to the age-specific death rates of a mentioned time. This term describes the overall mortality rate of a given population. In Australia, it was observed that the life expectancy rate has improved for both male and female. Boys and girls in 2011- 2013 can be seen to remain alive for about 33 and 34 years more than in the year 1881 to 1890. Earlier in 1881- 1890 it was thought that on an average a boy and a girl can live for about 47.2 and 50.8 years respectively. But in 20111- 2013 it was expected that a boy can live for 80.1 years, and a girl can be for 84.3 years. Men in 2011- 2013 can be thought to live for 84.2 years on an average and women up to 87.1 years. As per a report by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United States comes in the 26th rank among the 36 neighboring countries in terms of life expectancy ratio. OCED average expectation rate in 2011 was 80.1, but US expected rate was 78.7 years. The average expected life for men in the US is 76, but for women, it is 81 (Chetty et al., 2016). The life expectancy rate has been growing fast and has increased eight years longer than from 1970. From 1960 to 2011 the life expectancy at birth increased by nine years in the United States according to OECD. The health status of both the countries can be compared by focusing on different areas like low birth weight, Obesity, Diabetes, Asthma, Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), Cancerand reports of waterborne diseases. According to the reports published by Australian Bureau of Statistics( ABS) the total birth rate in Australia in 2013 was 1.88 but in 2014 it dropped down to 1.80 babies per woman. The more number of births was observed in big cities while in the inner cities the rate is significantly lower as compared to them (Foster et al., 2016). In 2013, the rate was 308, 100 but it decreased to 299, 700 in 2014. As observed in the case of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers, the rate was 2.34 in 2013, but it came down to 2.20 babies per woman in 2014. As reported by US federal government in March 2011, from 2007 to 2009 the birth rate declined by 4%. In June 2011, the US national center for health statistics revealed that the birth rates are continuously falling since 2010 which may be due to some unfavorable economic conditions. According to the research center's study, there is a strong connection between the fertility rates and economic problems about race and ethnicity (Martinson Reichman., 2016). Caucasians have a smaller decrease in fertility rate as compared with Hispanics who are the largest in this rate. For Hispanic women, the rate reduced to 5.9 percent in 2008- 2009. It was 2.4 percent for African American women and 1.6 percent as seen in the case of white women. This is due to the reason that the Hispanics have been suffered from high rates of unemployment and wealth losses. From 2012 to 2013, the number of births falls to 20, 000. In 2013, the crude birth rate, which is the total number of births each year per thousand women gave belonging to ages 15- 44 and which fall down to 62.5, this was the lowest level noted till now. The total number of children a woman can bear rate drop to 1.87. (Source: www.theguardian.com ) As from the graph, it can be seen that since 2008 the birth rates felled dramatically, and it continued till 2013. On comparing the countries on the basis of their obesity rate, it was observed that both the countries are equally prevalent in this ratio. As per the report is given in 2010 by the organization for economic cooperation and development, the obesity rates of the US and Mexico are the highest among all other countries. The Mexicos rate of obesity is the highest and US is among the second. Other countries like New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom and Canada lies in between 20 to 27 percent. In Australia, men are at the higher chances of getting obese than women. Children are equally getting obese as like as their parents. There is also evidence that with age that is 45 years of age people are putting weight, and two women in three are often prevalent. In terms of diabetes cases, both the countries are equal. As reported in the ABS Australian health survey for the year 2011- 2012, the number of people with age 18 and above suffering from diabetes was 917, 000. In that year, the disease was more frequently seen in men than women. With the increase in age the cases of diabetes among people increased (Holmes-Truscott et al., 2016). The people with 75 years of age were found to be more associated with the disease than people with 45 years of age. (Source: www.theguardian.com ) Diabetes in America is found to be very common as it was found that 29.1 million of Americans had been suffering from this disease in 2012. This disease has been one of the leading causes of death of human population there in 2010 (Jindal et al., 2016). The diabetes cases are also diagnosed depending on their races and ethnicity. It was found that 7.6% of non- Hispanic people have diabetes, and 15.9% of American Indians had that problem. In the case of asthma prevalence both the countries are at the same position. As per the report published in 2011- 2012 by Australian health survey, near about 2.3 million people that are 10.2% of the whole population have been suffering from asthma. It was found to be 11.6% in 2001. (Source: Glover 2016 ) In America, the rate of asthma has been increasing. As from the graph, it can be seen that in 2013, 13% of the children between 0- 17 years of age has been found to be suffering from this disease. While 8% of the other children have active asthma (Patel et al., 2016). Almost all the children had suffered from asthma attacks once or more in that year. From 1997 to 2011 there was a tremendous increase in the rates of children suffering from asthma, but the rate falls down significantly after 2012. Hypertension in Australia is a common problem. As it can be seen that, in 2011- 2012 near about 4.6 million people which are about 32% of people aged 18years and above had been suffering from high blood pressure problems. As from the table, it was clear that men were found to be at higher risk of developing blood pressure problems than women. Men had 23.6% chances, but women had a 19.5% chance. It was found that with age the chances of developing blood pressure risks increases. Hypertension in America is very much common in women than in men. In women who are above 65 years are more at risk, but for men with 45 years of age can be at risk. 1 out of 3 adults have been facing these problems that are 29% of the population (Ramos et al., 2016). Out of them, 52% of the people have their blood pressure under control. Many of the adults have suffered from problems of pre-hypertension, which are very dangerous. Cancer cases in Australia have been found to be around 120, 710 cases in 2010. Out of that, 56% of cases are seen among males and 70% occurs among people who are above 60. The standard rate of prevalence of cancer comes to 474 per 1, 00, 000 people. The incidences of detecting cancer in males were about 1 in 2 and in females it was about 1 in 3 females. Cancer rates have declined from the 1990s. An annual report was published for 2003 to 2012 that is the annual report to the country on the situation of cancer has been released in March 2016, showed that cancer death ratios slowed down significantly. 1.8 percent each year among men, 1.4 percent each year for women and 2 percent each year among children of 0- 19 age groups (Ramos et al., 2016). According to a report published by the National Health Interview Survey in 2014, the number of patients detected with cancer in America were found to be around 20.3 million (Gonzalez-Ramella et al., 2016). The health system performance of any country can be measured by taking into concept some indicators of health which are- acceptable, appropriate, effective, efficient and safe. The health system performance for Australia has improved dramatically. Effectiveness can be observed in cases like the number of teenagers smoking cigarettes decreased from 48% to 29% for the year 1999 to 2005. Cancer survival rates seem to be an indicator of effectiveness which has increased favorably. Appropriateness for all the measures was to be determined as per the report of NHPC. But for caesarean section and hysterectomy, it cannot be estimated as it was not given by NHPC that whether it is favorable or not. The efficiency can be seen by two indicators. The duration of a patient staying in hospital decreased since 2005- 2006. And the price of case mix adjusted separation per person also increased to 3,698 dollars in 2005-06 from 3,004 dollars in 2001-02. The health services provided in the health care centers are truly acceptable, and it showed the increase in trends. Safety level increased from 90.5% to 94.4% from 2003 to 2006 by the use of electronic prescribing in general practice.In America also, all the various indicators of the health system performance are highly maintained. Patients are provided safety at all the possible levels. % GDP Spent on Health Australia spent almost 121.4 billion dollars in 2009- 10, which is equal to the total amount spent on all goods and services in the country (Glover., 2016). So, per person GDP rate is equal to 5, 479 dollars. The amount of money spent on health has increased in the past years. The United States spent about 2.3 trillion dollars in 2008 for the health care purpose (Cottrell., 2016). So, for each person, the amount spent is calculated as 7, 681 dollars. Health care costs have significantly increased since 2008. 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