One of the ways in which the social policies of different countries vary most is in the methods chosen to provide citizens with health insurance. There are currently two primary methods of covering health care costs: insurance offered through the workplace, and insurance offered directly by the government.
The United States is one of the only developed nations that tends to rely on employers to provide access to health insurance, although government sponsored healthcare is available for the elderly and the poor. Benefits include having greater choices of insurance providers, as well as lower tax rates, since the government doesn’t need to collect funds to cover benefits for all. Disadvantages include inefficiencies due to wasteful spending without central oversight, and the possible lack of coverage for anyone who becomes unemployed.
Due to the high rate of unemployment following the recession that took place towards the end of the last decade, many Americans complained of losing insurance coverage, or of having to pay high premiums to continue their former insurance plans privately. President Obama requested that the United States Congress pass legislation to make health care more accessible. While a version of a bill allowing for government sponsored health care passed the Senate, the recent election of a Senator from the liberal state of Massachusetts who is against this policy change may signal that voters are hesitant to allow more government oversight of health insurance programs.
In contrast to employer sponsored health insurance, many countries offer universal health care paid for by collecting taxes from residents. Benefits of this type of program include allowing all residents to have access to basic medical services without regard to employment status, along with typically setting a ceiling on the amounts charged for various medical services. Unfortunately, increasing tax payments can lead to citizens having less disposable income, which can cause a slower rate of economic growth. Significantly, countries with this type of arrangement, such as the United Kingdom and France, historically have a much higher rate of unemployment than the United States.
Additionally, by limiting the amount that physicians make, government health insurance can lead to a shortage of doctors, which can increase the wait times for certain procedures. For example, in the last year reports have surfaced that some regions of Canada send dozens of laboring mothers across the border to the United States due to a lack of qualified obstetricians and neonatologists.