Medical Treatment In Germany Vs. In The United States

Health care is important to all of us, no matter where you’re from or what you do. We are all equally at risk for injury, infection and world wide viral epidemics so it comes as no surprise that large, developed countries spend large amounts of resources perfecting their health care systems. The extent at which each nation devotes its resources towards medicine varies but most spend a proportionally larger portion of their budgets on health care than third world countries. Despite health care being equally important to these larger nations, these two large countries have distinctly different health care systems.

Medicine in America

Most hospitals in America are privately owned, some operate on a non profit basis, while others operate for profit and around 21 % are government owned. Health Insurance in America must be purchased by each citizen either privately or through an employer or be insured through a family member, the rest of the population is uninsured. America has extremely high rates of obesity, car accidents, infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, disabilities along with many more illnesses and as a result, life expectancy is quite low. Despite these daunting statistics, Americans that live past the age over 75 are likely to live longer than persons doing this in a third world country. In the years 2011, The United States spent 17.8% of its GDP in health care, more than any other nation in the world.

Medicine in Germany

Germany has a Universal Health Care system requiring every citizen to have one of two types of insurance, Private Health Insurance and statutory health insurance. Citizens below a certain income average are automatically enrolled into the Statutory Health Insurance model paid jointly by the individual and their employer. Citizens earning over 53,000 USD per year have the option of acquiring private health insurance and these people make up about 11% of the population. Germany’s health care system is 23% privately funded and 77% government with an average life expectancy of 78 years for men. In the year 2001, Germany’s total spending on health care totaled 10.8% of its GDP.

As our society develops, our basic health needs evolve and so must our efforts. One day, when humanity is at its peak, we will be overseen by a global health care system that caters to the needs of all without any requirements.