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Inequality in Healthcare

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Inequality in Healthcare
Running Head: HEALTHCARE

Inequality in healthcare One of the major problems facing our country today is the healthcare crisis. The inequality in our current healthcare system has created a huge gap in the difference between the level and the quality of healthcare that different people receive. Having an improved and reliable health care system available for everyone should be a priority that the government must make available. There are countries whose health care system meets the needs of the patients while there are countries whose health care systems need a great amount of overhaul for them to be able to attend to their patients. In this essay I will discuss the healthcare crisis and the differences in many countries healthcare systems. I will also list several ways that the injustice in our current healthcare system may be corrected. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that “injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane” among all forms of inequality (The University of Maine, 2001). Due to illnesses and diseases and emotional distress that anyone can experience, a heath care system has an important role in treating patients and providing them a much better and high-quality lives. However, not all health care systems can meet these goals. The United States seems to be the leading country in terms of health care system. Large amounts of researches on health care systems look into the United States and its delivery of health care to its citizens. Many people are also wondering if the United States has the best health care system in the world while some are skeptical if the country has the most expensive health care. Indeed, studies showed that United States has the most costly health care system in the world. But when compared with other leading countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the United States is ranked last (Davis, et.al, 2007). Back in 2000, the United States was ranked 37th, with



References: Coutsoukis, P. (2007). The World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html Davis, K., Schoen C., Schoenbaum, S.C., Dot, M.M., Holmgren, A.L., Kriss, J.L., and Shea, K.K. (2007). Mirror, mirror on the wall: An international update on the comparative performance of American health care. The Commonwealth Fund. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=482678#areaCitation Mason, M. (2007). Poor health care system plagues Myanmar. Associated News. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.burmanet.org/news/2007/10/26/associated-press-poor-health-care-system-plagues-myanmar-margie-mason/ Orabuchi, A. (2005). Poor healthcare system: Nigeria’s moral indifference. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://www.kwenu.com/publications/orabuchi/poor_healthcare.htm Reinhardt, U.E. (1994). Germany’s health care system: It’s not the American way. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/13/4/22.pdf The University of Maine. (2001). The U.S. health care system: Best in the world, or just the most expensive? Bureau of Labor Education. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf

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