editor Medical insurance or health insurance refers to a policy that covers medical costs that arise from private surgery, treatment, or any other form of medical service. Insurance policies differ around the world, with one country operating via a very different model than the next. This article will focus on the factors that affect medical insurance and how policies differ around the world.
Factors Influencing Attitudes Toward Medical Insurance
How Income Levels Affect Medical Insurance
Income levels undoubtedly affect access to medical insurance. In regions, cities or nations where income levels are low, there are likely to be fewer people who can afford to spend money on obtaining private medical insurance.
In these parts of the world, citizens rely heavily on governments and their programmes which are designed to increase access to healthcare for poor and vulnerable people.
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How Government Policies Affect Medical Insurance
Governments have an important role to play when it comes to healthcare. Failing to regulate the private insurance market could lead to only the richest members of society being able to afford healthcare.
In countries like the USA, where having medical insurance is the norm, policies have been set up to try and keep health insurance affordable. One example is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which is a US policy designed to support those with lower incomes.
How Cultural Attitudes Towards Healthcare Affect Medical Insurance
Culture covers a range of topics, but they all impact attitudes towards healthcare in one way or another. For instance, how much trust a nation’s citizens have in their government massively impacts private medical insurance. In the UK, a loss of trust in recent governments has seen more Brits take out medical insurance instead of relying on the government-controlled NHS.
How Different Countries Approach Medical Insurance
United States
The United States’ healthcare model is heavily weighted in favour of private healthcare. It is also by far the biggest nation to not have a universal healthcare system. Instead, the vast majority of US citizens take out private medical insurance, with employers often footing a large percentage of the bill.
Larger companies are legally required to provide health insurance to their staff. Companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees are not legally required to offer medical insurance.
This approach causes mass controversy in the political world and, as already mentioned, programmes such as the Affordable Care Act have been created in the attempt to make American healthcare more affordable for low-income earners.
Canada
Canadian healthcare couldn’t be any more different from their American neighbours. While the States is largely focused on private healthcare and medical insurance, Canadians benefit from one of the world’s leading publicly funded healthcare systems.
Medicare covers most medical procedures and services, which means Canadians don’t often hand over money at the point of service. Similar to the UK though, services such as dental procedures don’t come under the publicly funded healthcare system.
However, unlike the UK, different provinces in Canada will have slightly different approaches to healthcare.
Japan
Japan’s healthcare system is considered one of the best in the world. Their approach is considered a hybrid model where citizens are legally required to take out public medical insurance. As a result, healthcare isn’t free but it also isn’t considered expensive.
The Japanese government ensure that healthcare in the country remains affordable but also high quality. As a result, private medical insurance is less common than it is in other countries, simply because their public model is so highly regarded.
Perhaps the biggest feather in Japan’s health system’s cap is the fact that the country has the world’s highest life expectancy.
Brazil
Healthcare and medical insurance is a major talking point in developing nations. As most citizens cannot afford private medical insurance, this puts an enormous strain on universal healthcare systems.
Brazil is a great example of this. While there are private hospitals and healthcare routes, public hospitals tend to be the more common option. However, due to the over-reliance on public healthcare, community health initiatives are becoming increasingly popular in Brazil.
UK
The UK’s approach to healthcare is well-known and much discussed. The world-renowned National Health Service (NHS) in England is free for all UK citizens without the need for medical insurance. Instead, free healthcare in NHS is funded by higher taxes.
However, private healthcare options do exist and those who want to benefit from improved facilities and shorter waiting times are required to explore private medical insurance options. This is becoming an increasingly popular route in the U.K. where facilities are becoming overcrowded, run down and inadequately staffed. It’s also worth pointing out free healthcare doesn’t cover all medical procedures. For example, a cosmetic surgeon performing a facelift in Manchester would decide their own prices.
