For the healthcare system, I choose to compare the United States and Japan. In both countries, the standards of the health care systems are quite high as compared to other countries. However, Japan has a higher standard compared to the United States. The above is portrayed by the fact that Japan has a higher life expectancy and a low child mortality rate as compared to the United States. Being a country that leads in technology, health care facilities are easily accessible by both the children, the unemployed, and retired individuals. However, the United States has better retirement health care plans as compared to Japan with schemes such as Medicaid put in place. In the Medicaid plan, the employers and employees contribute to the program that will enable them to access medical attention from anywhere within the country (Krasnoff, 2018).
Medical coverage in Japan is provided through a universal health care system. The cover is usually free to all the citizens and non-citizens staying more than a year in the country since they are required to enroll in the insurance plan. The cover takes care of more than seventy percent of the total medical costs of an individual. On the other hand, the United States health care covers are provided through a combination of private health insurance and public health coverage, which are Medicare and Medicaid programs, respectively. Medicare is provided by the federal government, focusing on covering people older than 65 years of age. The scheme covers more than half of the healthcare expenses. Secondly, there is the Medicaid program that is also by the federal government. It is eligible for people with low incomes, which is free of charge for any health care services offered to the people such as children, mothers, disabled, or the elderly (Krasnoff, 2018). For the American expats that live in the country, they purchase health care coverage and receive private health insurance for themselves and their families through their employers.
For any patients in Japan, they are free to visit and see any doctor they would wish to in any medical facility as they prefer. It implies that the patients do not need any referrals for them to visit any major health care facility or a specialized hospital (Schaede et al., 2017). However, they are entitled to paying additional fees if at all, they do need any referrals. In the United States, a patient needs a referral from the primary care physician for them to see a specialist. The physician has to evaluate the concern before making a referral. He has to also verify the insurance and referral information by contacting the insurance company then proceed to make an appointment with the specialist.
In Japan, various options concerning the preexisting conditions are rolled out. Such include a cover after waiting for a period of 24months by a policyholder. Secondly, there is a cover with the loading of the premiums where victims have to pay premiums. There is also exclusion where protection is given to patients, but the preexisting condition is excluded. In the case of the United States, health care coverage is provided regardless of the preexisting condition. However, when is hidden by a victim, insurers, especially private ones, can use the records and deny one the cover because one was already injured before the cover (Calvo et al., 2018).
Japan has incorporated technology in its healthcare systems, which makes healthcare services readily available in the country at a lower cost as compared to the United States. The healthcare system is considered universal because it covers everyone since the government pays it. However, everyone has to pay the tax revenues to cater to the same regarding the level of income. For the United States, patients are financially strained, especially those taking the private insurance covers since it is expensive (Karanikolos et al., 2016). Those without insurance covers are charged high amounts despite the level of their incomes.