A. Compare the U.S. healthcare system with the healthcare system of Great Britain, Japan, Germany,
or Switzerland, by doing the following:
1. Identify one country from the following list whose healthcare system you will compare to the U.S.
healthcare system: Great Britain, Japan, Germany, or Switzerland.
For this task I have choses to compare the healthcare system of Japan to the U.S. healthcare system.
2. Compare access between the two healthcare systems for children, people who are unemployed,
and people who are retired.
“Japan's health-care system mixes socialism with individual responsibility and market forces. The
government pays one-quarter of the total health-care bill, and employers and workers pay the rest
through mandatory insurance.” (Harden, 2009)
In Japan, all citizens and their dependents are required to enroll in the Statutory Health Insurance
System (SHIS). This system includes employment-based plans and residence-based plans. Fifty nine
percent of citizens are covered by employment-based plans, of which there are approximately 1400
plans. The employment-based plans are funded by taxes and employee contributions. The employee
pays approximately 5% of their salary for coverage and that is matched by the employer. Residence-
based insurance plans, which include Citizen Health Insurance plans for non-employed individuals age 74
and under and Health Insurance for the Elderly plans, which cover adults age 75 and older. Each of
Japan’s 47 regions, has its own residence-based insurance plan. These plans are paid for by individual
contributions based on income and by federal and local government. The SHIS covers 70% of healthcare
costs and citizens have a 30% responsibility, although this is often reduced for low income, elderly and
very young individuals. All SHIS plans provide the same benefits package which is determined by the
national government. The SHIS covers 98.3% of the population.
The remaining 1.7% of the population is
covered by the Public Social Assistance Program. This program is for impoverished individuals and is
funded through federal and local governments. (Tikkanen, 2020)
The United States insurance system is a mix of private and public coverage. The federal government
funds Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program. Medicare provides coverage for
adults 65 years or older, persons with long term disabilities and those with end stage renal disease.
