Differences In Health Care In Finland And The United States

Differences In Health Care

Health care services are produced in varying methods in each country. There aren’t two countries with the exact same system. Some countries’ methods are similar, but others’ can be extremely diverse. An excellent example of differensive health care system, is the Finnish and the American health system. Health care services in Finland and in the United States work differently, especially when it comes to private and public health care, costs, and effects.

Private health care allows people to see the doctor fast, but with a high cost. Most health services in the U.S. are delivered privately and about 68% of the U.S. population has a private health insurance (“The”). In Finland private health services are not as common,

Taxes play a major part in public health services. Especially in Finland taxation is particularly high, which allows everyone access to health services. Still people with better income use health services twice as often as people with less income, by having the possibility to use private health care (“Yksityinen”). In The U.S. Health Care System, Fact Sheet, the U.S. health care system is considered being a hybrid system. “In 2014, 48 percent of U.S. health care spending came from private funds, with 28 percent coming from households and 20 percent coming from private businesses. The federal government accounted for 28 percent of spending while state and local governments accounted for 17 percent” (“The”). In the U.S. health service costs burden individuals the most, having to have health insurances, which are necessary for receiving health care. In 2013 the United States’ health expenditure was 8713 dollars per capita, in the same year Finland’ health expenditure was 3442 dollars, which is more that two times less than in the U.S. (“The”). The United States’ expensive health care services simply doesn’t pay itself back. Low costs for individuals, and through that accessibility for health care also have effect on countries’ general

In international comparison Finland is doing better that United States in life expectancy and child mortality rates. According to OECD Better Life Index, Finland’s life expectancy stands at 82 years, whereas In the U.S. it stands at 79 years, which is one year below the average age (“Health”). According to Mortality Rate, under-5, in 2016 the child mortality rate in Finland was 2 children for every thousand and in the U.S. it was 7 per thousand (“Mortality”). This could be the result of health care accessibility, because in Finland everyone has access to some kind of healthcare as in the U.S. some people simply can’t afford getting a health insurance, which is a must for receiving healthcare. 9.1% of Americans are not medically insured (Senthilingam). Also the United States is known for suffering from obesity and different chronic diseases, which affects to the life expectancy. But when people themselves tell about their own health, the results are opposite. As in OECD Better Life Index it is said “When asked "How is your health in general?" 88% of people in the United States reported to be in good health, much more than the OECD average of 69% and one of the highest scores across the OECD” (“Health”). In Finland that percentage was 70% (“Health”). Every country has different methods, and it is difficult to say which are the most