Use this document to complete the Module 6 Assessment Global Healthcare Comparison Matrix and Narrative Statement
| Global Healthcare Issue | Universal Healthcare Insurance to Promote Universal Healthcare Coverage
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| Description | Universal healthcare coverage policies and programs are usually regulated by the national or federal governments in most countries to achieve the objectives of global healthcare tenets. The American Affordable Care Act (ACA) was legally passed by the Senate more than a decade ago with the passionate aim to include national healthcare coverage through health insurance. The Canadian Medicare is another version of the national health insurance policy program that ensures nationwide health insurance coverage. | |
| Country | United States | Canada |
| Describe the policy in each country related to the identified healthcare issue | The affordable care act was signed in to law by the former USA president Barack H. Obama on 23rd March 2010 and is, therefore, popularly known as the ‘Obamacare,’ sometimes the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform, and formerly as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (Manchikanti et al., 2017b). This healthcare policy promoted universal coverage by ensuring national regulation of healthcare insurance. The core objective of this legislative act was to reduce healthcare cost through health insurance, tax subsidies, and health cost-sharing; and promotion of primary care prevention and promotion | The Canadian Medicare policy is a system that resembles the American Medicare in some respects. The national health insurance systems are funded by the public and the individuals do not have to pay for health services from their pockets. The Canadian Medicare dates to the legislations of 1957, 1966, and 1984 (the Canadian Museum of History, n.d.). Since its final legislation in 1984, Canadian Medicare has become a social icon among Canadians because of their freedom and ease of access o health care among other reasons. As opposed the American Medicare, Canadian Medicare covers health insurance for all age ages. The representation allows everyone to access the required care in Canada. Therefore, this policy is sometimes referred to as ‘Medicare for All.’ The tenets of this policy ensure accessibility, universality, portability, and public administration. |
| What are the strengths of this policy? | The policy prevented health care insurance discrimination where Americans with presenting chronic medical conditions were ‘unfairly’ overcharged. It also reduced care cost through reduction in prices of prescription drugs, increased coverage of primary care through improving disease screening strategies and subsidized the insurance premiums by cost-sharing. Healthcare limits were reduced regardless of the economic abilities of the individual | This policy eliminates discrimination in healthcare access. Both the vulnerable and the healthy population have equal access to healthcare. The costs of the healthcare insurance come from taxation and are paid by the government. Healthcare cost is one of the determinants of healthcare quality and if everyone can access care services without financial straining, the general healthcare quality is improved. The universal healthcare coverage of Canadians is therefore improved (Martin et al., 2018). The policy includes further promotion of programs that aim at achieving health education and promotion. The education of the citizens about their health promotes primary disease prevention hence reduction in care costs. |
| What are the weaknesses of this policy? | This policy imposed various penalties on individuals who did not subscribe to any healthcare insurance plans. This policy meant that people with existing health insurance had to pay more insurance premiums due to the coverage of people with preexisting medical conditions. However, arguments by various scholarly items literature that failure of the insurance subscription by one individual passes acre costs to other people through the pooling of risks may be true (Manchikanti et al., 2017a). | The weaknesses of this policy come from the generalizations in access to care. The geographically quality health facilities are in urban areas where the population is high. This
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