There is common perception among the Americans that irrespective of its coverage and cost management, their health care system is among the best in the world in terms of quality. In a 2009 study, Robert Berenson and Elizabeth Docteur found that 55 percent of Americans believed that they get better quality by seeking medical attention in the American health facilities than in any other country. Nevertheless, only 45 percent of the surveyed individuals believed that the American health care system was the best in the world. Upon deeper questioning, Berenson and Docteur noted that some of these respondents were dissatisfied by the manner in which the authorities handle matters relating to the provision of medical services (Nolte and McKee 58).
Although overwhelming majority of Americans support the government’s actions that aim at increasing the health care reform, a recent study indicated that about 63 percent of the respondents worried that such a move would lower the quality of the health care provision. In this case, while the cost of accessing health care would be minimized, an attempt to avail care to everyone is viewed by majority of Americans as being counterproductive. Indeed, there have been poll reports that have indicated that as much as 81 percent of Americans would not support the system that assures medical services to every citizen irrespective of the status of their insurance coverage. As such, there have been disagreements as stakeholders attempt to come-up with the most appropriate reform strategy while the government seeks to avail quality health care services to as many people as possible, and at an affordable cost (Lee and Mongan 9-14).
This paper elaborates how the quality and affordability of health care in America compares with the rest of the world so as to determine what reforms ought to be implemented in the system. Precisely, the paper seeks to assess how the impact of the American health sector compares with the rest of the world. By exploring the manner in which the American health sector compares internationally, it becomes possible to address the fundamental concerns and attitudes that the stakeholders have with regard to the provision of medical service. For instance, if study indicates that the country’s health care system is the most applicable as per the prevailing situations, it will be possible to justify the authorities concerns for improving service delivery beyond the current standards (Nolte and McKee 58).
The paper starts with evaluating the constituents of a quality health care system in endeavor to establish the role played by the health policy that the country adopts. Consequently, it attempts to evaluate the evidence of disparity of the American health sector as compared to that of other countries. At this juncture, the paper explicates how this impacts on the quality of services that medical facilities offer. Later sections evaluate how the American health insurance system influences the prevalence of the challenges that the patients encounter as they seek access to health care facilities (Lee and Mongan 9-14).