Healthcare Accessibility
By Shivani Manikandan
The topic of healthcare accessibility has become more widely talked about in the past few years. But what exactly is healthcare? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines healthcare as “the maintaining and restoration of health by the treatment and prevention of disease especially by trained and licensed professionals.” Healthcare encompasses everything from doctors and clinics to hospitals and insurance. It provides people with what is necessary to survive. The first American hospital, the Pennsylvania Hospital, “was founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin ‘to care for the sick-poor and insane who were wandering the streets of Philadelphia,’” according to the University of Pennsylvania. From that point on, more hospitals and clinics have been formed not only in general medicine, but also in various subsections and fields as well. These establishments have grown to become places where any person can turn to for medical help.
Good healthcare, by definition, must be accessible. According to Missouri Medicine, “Health care access is the ability to obtain healthcare services such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases, illness, disorders, and other health-impacting conditions [, and for it] to be accessible it must be affordable and convenient.”
Within the United States, healthcare is not entirely accessible, as it is very expensive. Still, a number of people come to the United States to get surgeries, transplants, and more because of the quality of the United States’ healthcare. The United States has excellent healthcare for all kinds of medical care and treatments compared to other countries, as the quality and price of healthcare varies from country to country.
In the United Kingdom, “residents enjoy access to a National Health Services (NHS) based on clinical need, and not ability to pay. In contrast, free access to social care services is means-tested, with different eligibility criteria across the nations of the United Kingdom,” according to the Euro Health Observatory. Healthcare is regarded as a fundamental right in the United Kingdom, as opposed to the United States’ view of healthcare being a privilege. Although the United Kingdom may have a significant leg up when compared to the United States in terms of healthcare systems and policies, there are some significant downsides that ultimately allow the United States’ healthcare system to be “superior.”
In Germany, healthcare is mandatory, according to The Commonwealth Fund. Roughly 86% of the population was ‘enrolled’ in healthcare in 2018. Their system provides “inpatient, outpatient, mental health, and prescription drug coverage” among other services. The advantage to this is that there is less dependency on prescriptions, and the prices of private insurance and hospital bills are significantly more affordable than those of the United States. In Germany, healthcare is provided regardless of financial status, allowing Germany’s healthcare system to be considered better than the United States’ system.
Healthcare is ever-changing; as technologies develop alongside humans’ understanding of medicine and disease, so do the policies and the systems that come with it. Although many people globally have access to healthcare, not many of them have the option to get proper, quality healthcare. The dynamic nature of healthcare is why it is so commonly talked about. Whether in relation to the quality of healthcare or the price of it, the meaning of accessible healthcare is changing every single day.
Works Cited
A Brief History of Private Insurance in the United States – Academic HealthPlans. https://www.ahpcare.com/a-brief-history-of-private-insurance-in-the-united-states/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
Health Care Access - MU School of Medicine. https://medicine.missouri.edu/centers-institutes-labs/health-ethics/faq/health-care-access#:~:text=Health%20care%20access%20is%20the,have%20access%20to%20adequate%20healthcare. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
History of Medicine | History & Facts | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
United Kingdom: Health System Review 2022. https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/i/united-kingdom-health-system-review-2022. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
https://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/features/creation.html#:~:text=Pennsylvania%20Hospital%20History%3A%20Stories%20%2D%20Nation’s%20First%20Hospital&text=Pennsylvania%20Hospital%20was%20founded%20in,city%20in%20the%2013%20colonies. Accessed 3 Jan. 2023.
