(Answered) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Week 5 discussion

Using the South University online library, the Internet, and the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), research comparative international work and compare the United States and Canada with respect to which country is more effective in the areas of (1) economic growth; (2) expenditure (public and private expenditure on health); (3) information and communications technology; and (4) health.

Click here to access data from the OECD.

On the basis of your observations, create a 1- to 2-page report.

Your report should address the following questions:

• After going through the statistics:
  • What information or statistic you find either surprising or reasonable?
  • Do you anticipate the statistics will be similar in ten years? Why or why not?
• The current structure of healthcare coverage in the United States has a combination of employer-based coverage and public program (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid) coverage, with a large uninsured population. If a single-payer system is implemented where Medicare is expanded to cover all citizens for those who prefer private insurance, there will be comparable coverage under the same range of private insurance plans already available. Keeping in mind these considerations, answer the following questions:
  • What do you think about allowing some people to purchase additional insurance, thereby creating a two-tier health system based on affordability?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of this initiative?
• Considering the fact that healthcare is not a guaranteed right for everyone in the United States, there are different kinds of barriers and obstacles in obtaining healthcare. In contrast to this fact, the notions of equity and fairness are considered very important. You will notice that these notions aren’t considered when we discuss people’s access to other goods, such as cars and computers.
  • What are these barriers? Give examples of the different barriers to health care under the following headings:
    • Financial barriers
    • Scarcity of healthcare providers
    • Barriers to access healthcare
    • Cultural barriers
    • Barriers of healthcare resources
  • How would you define the term, “equity and fairness”, in the context of the healthcare situations prevailing in the United States and Canada?
  • Why are they considered important when discussing people’s access to care?
• It is believed that government funded healthcare for all citizens is consistent with a capitalist economy and the cultural values of self-determination and free enterprise.
  • Do you agree with this statement? If not, what other approaches do you think will resolve the current inequities in the system?

To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Your initial posting should be addressed at 150-300 words. Submit your document to this Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.

Respond to your peers throughout the week. Justify your answers with examples, research, and reasoning. Follow up posts need to be submitted by the end of the week.

Use the following rubric as a guide to complete your discussion responses.

Sample Answer

Question 1

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the U.S. and Canada are among the highest spenders on health care. In 2019, the U.S. spent 16.8 percent of its GDP. On the other hand, Canada spent 10.8 percent of its GDP in the same year (OECD, 2021). This is a reasonable statistic. The United States’ higher expenditure is due to higher payments to hospitals and physicians, and also, many prescription drugs are expensive in the U.S. than they are in comparable nations. In addition, this statistic is likely to be similar in the next ten years. The U.S. will still experience higher drug costs and costly hospital and physician reimbursement costs due to the issue of the physician shortage and increase in drug prices.

Question 2

A two-tier has various advantages. For instance, it enhances access to quality care since one is not limited to access care from the public healthcare system only. Also, this system will allow people to have an opportunity to select an affordable healthcare package. On the other hand, this initiative will contribute to increased wait times in the public system. Also, it will encourage dual practice, allowing physicians to spend more time in the private system, leading to the deterioration of public system quality.

The single-payer health care system has various benefits. The healthcare system will ensure everyone is covered, enhance access to care among the uninsured in the U.S., and help achieve a healthier population by providing more people have coverage that ensures they get quality services, such as preventive services (Rosella et al., 2018).

Question 3

Financial barriers 

This can be categorized into formal and informal financial barriers. The official financial barriers include the high drug costs and healthcare services. On the other hand, informal financial barriers comprise the high transportation expenses incurred when seeking health care.

Scarcity of healthcare providers 

The scarcity of healthcare providers is a barrier to healthcare. This includes obstacles such as a shortage of primary care physicians. Lack of enough primary care physicians hinders people from accessing primary care services. Another example is the lack of enough health facility organizations to meet the community members’ healthcare needs.

Cultural barriers 

Cultural barriers refer to factors related to one’s cultural values, beliefs, and practices, limiting one from accessing healthcare. They include language barriers, gender, misconceptions, and racial discrimination.

Barriers of healthcare resources

They include factors such as transportation and geographical barriers to healthcare access. Also, factors such as low income and uninsured hinder one from healthcare access.

Equity is defined as the situation whereby every individual is given the necessary resources and opportunities they require to access health care. On the other hand, fairness is when healthcare resources are distributed impartially to every individual without favoritism or discrimination.

Equity and fairness are essential concepts when addressing people’s access to care. Health consumers enjoy various benefits when equity and fairness are achieved in healthcare access. For example, they enjoy greater access to the healthcare services they need, a better quality of care, and positive health outcomes (Benatar et al., 2018).

Question 4

1. There are various strategies that can be applied to address current inequities in the healthcare system. One of them includes gathering racial and socio-demographic data to identify disparities and formulate customized approaches to address them (Spencer et al., 2019). Also, community organizations need to be incorporated in the decision-making process to ensure the needs of the communities they serve are addressed effectively.