Exploring Healthcare Systems- Positive Effects of Public Healthcare and Innovations for the U.S
Public healthcare helps senior citizens live a healthy and prolonged life and helps populations with low income to access and seek health services through public health programs like Medicare and Medicaid (OpenStax 434). Through these programs, citizens can enjoy comprehensive advantages like health maintenance, rehabilitative services, therapeutic, diagnostic, and preventive services for all kinds of health conditions and illnesses (434). Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com. We offer assignment help with high professionalism.
How the US Public Healthcare relates Socialized Healthcare and Universal Healthcare in other Countries
US’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Patient Protection in the public sector will create a socialized medicine system (OpenStax 435). In the socialized medicine system, the government runs and owns the system and employs nurses, doctors, and other healthcare staff (OpenStax 435). For instance, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland have a mixed system with substantial market-based and government-based components. Germany has a multi-layer healthcare system where subsidized healthcare is offered for low-income citizens. Yet, private healthcare options are also available with higher incomes (Zieff et al. 3). Healthcare in Canada is funded publicly and administered by separate territorial and provincial governments (OpenStax 435). Also, care is provided by providers in the private sector.
ACA was a positive initiative because of the reduced number of uninsured citizens and the lower spending rate through Medicare. However, the US needs to resist the political efforts of dislodging the principles of ACA while paying attention to the social determinants of health so that universal healthcare can be effective and inclusive and allow for an economically sustainable road to true public health.
Health and Medicine: Sociological Perspectives
The functionalist school of thought sees health as important to society’s stability. Doctors are gatekeepers who decide who is sick and healthy. On the other hand, conflict theorists hold that the pursuit of profit and capitalism results in health commodification (OpenStax 437). Social interactionalism theorists hold that illness and health are constructed socially. Social interactionists focus on certain causes and meanings people attribute to sickness (OpenStax 437). This influences who will respond to patients, how people see patients’ responsibilities, and how people respond to patients. For instance, people who consumed excess alcohol were considered lazy and bad in the past; they are now considered alcoholics who need medical interventions (OpenStax 438).
Works Cited
Zieff, Gabriel, et al. “Universal healthcare in the United States of America: a healthy debate.” Medicina 56.11 (2020): 580.
OpenStax. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, Texas: Rice University, 2017.
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Question
This chapter discusses health and medicine as social institutions/structures. Read Chapter 19: Pages 434 and 435 in your book about U.S. Healthcare and Healthcare elsewhere in the world.
This thread will discuss both topics. Read about “Public Healthcare and Private Healthcare in the United States (page 434).” Then, read about “socialized healthcare” and “universal healthcare” in other countries on page 435 of your book.
1. Describe the positive effects of public healthcare in our country and how it relates to socialized and universal healthcare in other countries. Be creative and suggest a new form of healthcare in our nation. What is the best practice for healthcare in the world today? There is no right or wrong answer; it is just your analysis and observations of what might work in our country.
2. Please explain health and medicine as social institutions from three sociological perspectives: functional, conflict, and symbolic interaction from “Theoretical Perspectives on Health and Medicine” on pages 436-437 from the online textbook chapter 19.