According
to the World Heath Organization’s ranking of world health care systems, France
was ranked as the best in the world, and Italy was ranked as the second best. The
rankings by the WHO are based on the five different factors of, health
equality, general health, responsiveness, responsiveness equality, and fair
financial contribution. If a nation was going to remodel their healthcare
system or even start one from scratch, they would definitely want to look at
the factors that made France and Italy successful in that domain. In both
France and Italy the government is heavily involved in the management of their
healthcare systems. While the majority of general physicians in France are in
private practice, Italy is a mix between public and private practices. In both
France and Italy, all doctors draw their incomes from public insurance funds
managed by the government. The French government has taken control over these
public insurance funds in order to set premium levels, and to determine the
amount of money refunded to patients based on their incomes. For long-term
illnesses the French government refunds patients 100% of the costs, and for
most standard healthcare costs the government refunds around 70% of the costs.
Italian healthcare prices are also
weighted based on the patient’s income; meaning that the poor generally pay
less for their healthcare, and the rich pay more for their healthcare. Some in
a society where this is the policy may claim that weighting healthcare prices
in the favor of the poor is unfair for they rich that may or may not had to
work hard for their money, but it is the only way that the system can be
functional, and it just makes sense that people with money to spare should
share it with the less fortunate. One argument against universal healthcare
systems is that everything takes too long, but in the Italian healthcare system
if a patient wants their healthcare expedited and they have money to spare they
can opt in for the free market option, and pay for their healthcare directly out
of their pocket. One may argue all that they want about France and Italy’s
healthcare systems, but one can not argue against the great results that
occurred because of their healthcare policies.
1 comment:
Based on C.J's research, the foundation of a public insurance fund is the base for any great healthcare system. Instead of dealing with private insurance companies, who constantly raise their rates, all citizens pay to a public fund. Citizens can still go to the prestigious, private doctors, but pay a fraction of the price. The government should also consider how much each citizen should contribute to the fund based off his/her income. The rich would pay more than the poor, evening out the income gap and insuring that each citizen receives the same high quality health care services.
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