The American Healthcare System

The United States of the American healthcare system In comparing the European Union nation health care system, the United States of America’s health care system seems to be far more diverse. This system is unique, and with no central agency governing the system, it can be termed fragmented. It means that health care in this nation is obtained through different means (Shi & Singh, 2015). According to Nikolai (2017), since the healthcare system in the United States is privatized and fragmented, it is not financed by taxes; therefore, it can be characterized as being governed by the individual organization. The American government acts as a subsidiary to the private sector, while the private sector runs the healthcare system. Hence, virtually all healthcare facilities are privately owned, such as hospitals, practices, medical laboratories, and clinics, among others. There is little or no integration between healthcare services rendered and the quality of services provided, which usually leads to very high costs of services offered to patients (Nikolai, 2017). The two European countries selected are the United Kingdom and France. 150 words The countries in the European Union (EU) in general have made significant strides in their health and health care system in recent times, and this stems from the contributions of the Determine, a consortium of many public health institutions in EU which aims to partner with individual countries and their local communities to improve overall health care and conditions that contributes to the drivers of social determinants of health in these EU countries (DETERMINE Working Document, 2010). Although, health outcomes vary significantly in different countries that makes up the EU, however, evidence suggests that countries in Western Europe including Italy and Spain, have a better health and health care outcomes compared to their Eastern European counterparts (Mackenbach et al., 2013). For the purposes of this discussion, Spain and Italy would be the focus.