Healthcare Documentary Analysis

The objective of this assignment is to expose students to various sides of the healthcare debate by analyzing market-based vs. socialized medicine vs. single payer healthcare systems. 

We started the course with thinking about allocation of healthcare resources/scarcity and completed a simple exercise, where students were asked to allocated hours of dialysis machine treatment.

This assignment is asking you to revisit the topic of resource allocation in healthcare on a level of a country and to analyze the pros and cons of resource allocation in healthcare when using 1) first-come-first served and 2) government rationing, or a combination of both vs market-based allocation (willingness to pay).

The movies below look at a number of countries where medicine is socialized (gov. owns the means of production), and single payer (gov. is the sole insurer, but does not own the means of production).

 

Movie 1: “Wait Till It’s Free” (Free Market Perspective)

Summary: Christian filmmaker Colin Gunn challenges the perceived notion of the free market being responsible for the high prices in healthcare, revealing government intervention as the actual ailment. Wait Till It’s Free examines the history, ramifications, and practical alternatives to government-directed healthcare.

Click here to access and watch: https://oit-video.semo.edu/f/ngray/Wait_Till_Its_Free.mp4

 

Movie 2: “Sicko” (Socialized Medicine Perspective)

Summary: The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.

Click here to access and watch: https://oit-video.semo.edu/f/ngray/Sicko.mp4

 

Movie 3: “Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point,” 2016  (Single Payer Perspective)

Summary: The movie advocates for the single payer model supported by the Physicians for National Healthcare Program.  Students should already by familiar with this documentary from prior assignment.

Click here to access and watch: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/fix-healthcare-tipping-point/

 

 

Based on the films, answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between socialized medicine and single payer system? 10pts

Socialized medicine defines the system where the government has full control of healthcare provision. The government is responsible the employment of both doctors and nurses while it is responsible for the healthcare infrastructure including building since the government owns the hospitals. Also, the government bargains and purchases the essential resources including technology in the healthcare industry. Generally the government as the owner of a socialized system determines the number and timeline of building new hospitals, the number of doctors to be employed and governs the entire healthcare operations.

Single-payer medicine differs from a socialized medicine. Single-payer medicine rather defines the system in which a particular institution takes the ownership of the medicine system. It is a healthcare where all systems on the healthcare-related expenses are guaranteed by either a single government or any other government related institution. The institution makes all, suggestible, purchases most essentials in a healthcare system. However, unlike in the socialized medicine where the government owns the doctors and nurses, the payer does not take the responsibility to the employment of doctors and nurses. Nevertheless, a payer does now own the hospital technological resources such as the MRI scanners. In this system, the healthcare system is sponsored by taxes, which covers the complete expenditure or rather costs of the vital healthcare for the entire population. Governments employ single-payer healthcare system for a variety of reasons. For instance, it is an effective approach to common health care, reduced economic burden of medical provision while it forms a substantial base for improved health provision.

A single healthcare system develops a specific health risk pond that covers the entire population within a geographical or political coverage. Also, it implements a set of rules or regulations along the system to service provision and pricing of medical products including drug prices and the rules are inclined to regulate reimbursement rates. The rules play an important role of ensuring that medical standards are maintained within a single-payer system. 

 

• What methods of allocation of healthcare are the most prevalent (first-come-first served, rationing, or based on willingness to pay) in countries with socialized medicine and single payer system? 10pts

Rationing defines the distribution of scarce resources along the health care provision. Rationing tends to, necessarily; demonstrate the withholding of potential helpful care from a group of individuals. Rationing is predominantly unavoidable considering that resources are limited while needs are limitless. The engagement of rationing encompasses a variety of factors, which do not only affect the lives of individuals but also hold close impacts to societal values.

Rationing is commonly employed as a mechanism of controlling the healthcare in regards to the costs of health care. However, there is a significant difference between the selection of a less expensive health care service over the expensive treatments and rationing. While rationing denies beneficial rights to some individuals, the selection between two medical treatments does not withhold any form of benefits to any individual. Also, it notable that the strategies that aims to reduce administrative costs in health care such as administrative inefficiencies are less connected to rationing since they do not normally express the denial of potential beneficial treatment.

Rationing is unavoidable in the healthcare industry owing to the limited resources to its provision. Inevitably, there includes strong considerations through the engagement of a rationing strategy for positive performance due to differences of medical needs within a social group. It is arguable that the attempts to meet all medical needs tend to encounter strong resistance from the limited capacity to deliver the basic resources of all other social needs such as defense and education. For that reason, it is important to decree that some forms of rationing in the healthcare landscape are appropriate for social well-being.

It is eminent that some of the daily medical practices such as in ICUs encompass changing rationing decisions. For instance, the changeability of medical needs establishes the significance of rationing the healthcare industry. 

• List the countries that use socialized medicine: 10pts

The following countries have already enacted the socialized medical system in accordance with suggestions of world Health Organization (WHO). Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Greece, Switzerland and Belgium.

• In comparison to market-based healthcare system, what are the advantages of socialized medicine? Organize your response using the table below: 10pts

 

Advantages of Socialized Medicine	Detailed Description of the supporting information (Country, scenario)	Where found in the movie: (Movie, time)
Accessibility	The universal medicine suggests that the entire population has easy access to all sorts of medical services
Cost of care	In most countries, socialized Medicine tends to be a basis of affordable health care among the consumers

 

 

 

 

 

 

• In comparison to market-based healthcare system, what are the disadvantages of socialized medicine? 10pts

 

Advantages of Socialized Medicine	Detailed Description of the supporting information (Country, scenario)	Where found in the movie: (Movie, time)
Political Interference	Different polities are involved within the supply of medical services such as the purchase of medical resources thus slowing the provision of care.
Poor service provision	Limited management is pervasive in the socialized medicine system that leads to poor service standards

 

• List the countries that use single payer health care system: 10pts

            Canada is cited as the main country that strong advocates the singe-payer medicine. The United Kingdom through the National Health Service as well defines the Singe-Payer health system. Nevertheless, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, and also Norway leads by the single payer health system.

 

• In comparison to market-based healthcare system, what are the advantages of single payer system? 10pts

 

Advantages of Single Payer	Detailed Description of the supporting information (Country, scenario)	Where found in the movie: (Movie, time)
Accessibility	The system is important to ensuring that both the poor and individuals of the middle economic categories have chances to standard healthcare. For example, in the United States, the wealthier and also the healthier fund the system through different associations including medical insurances hence favoring the economically less privileged.
Efficiency	The system leads to improved and efficiency service provision since it operates on a large economy of scale. Most people in U.S use different insurance products which develop a substantial capital base to the improvement of the medical industry
Advantages of Single Payer	Detailed Description of the supporting information (Country, scenario)	Where found in the movie: (Movie, time)

• In comparison to market-based healthcare system, what are the disadvantages of the single payer? 10pts

 

 

Disadvantages of Single Payer	Detailed Description of the supporting information (Country, scenario)	Where found in the movie: (Movie, time)
Inconveniences	It is arguable that the involvement of health insurances in the American medical industry impacts service provision in various medical fields due to consultations.
High prices	Prices of care provision in the countries tend to increase as the economy grows hence exposing consumers to different economic constraints.
Regulatory Burden	The system encompasses strong and different regulatory systems which posit adverse effects to improved medical services. Moreover, the regulations limits medical freedom, which highly deter innovation including the use of experimental drugs
Employer-based insurance	The program exposes employers to unrelenting worries because one is prone to losing insurance cover after losing his or her job