Health Status and Health Care Services in Switzerland

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Health Status and Health Care Services in Switzerland With comparison to the United States 12/2/2012 HSM 310: Introduction to Health Services Management Course Project Athena L Hoffman ------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Introduction 2 Population and Health Status 3 Availability of Health Services 4 Expenditures 5 Macro-environmental Influences on the Health Care System 6 Summary 7 Bibliography 9 Introduction As healthcare expenditures in the United States rises to $2.6 trillion in 2010, over ten times the $256 billion spent in 1980, addressing this growing burden continues to be a major policy priority (U.S. Health Care Costs, 2012). March 2010, saw the signing into legislation the Affordable Care Act by President Obama to overhaul the nation’s health care system and to guarantee access and medical coverage to millions of Americans (Health Care Reform, 2012). The passing of the Affordable Care Act moves the United States toward a widely shared political aim of most countries, Universal health care. In looking at other countries and their health care systems, Switzerland has been heralded as one of the best in the world due to its universal healthcare system. Since its implementation in 1996, the Swiss Federal Health Insurance Act of 1994 guarantees comprehensive medical treatment to all of its citizens. Under this Act, private insurers offer basic coverage regardless of age or medical history, and unlike the other models of universal coverage, Switzerland relies primarily on the private sector while its local government provides important subsidies to hospitals and the federal government regulates the industry and influences premiums and costs (The Swiss Healthcare System: a Model for Others?, 2012). But what makes Switzerland and its healthcare system one of the best in the world and how does

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