By Sylvia Moore:
Reporter T. R. Reid explains the differences between the four main models of health care systems: Beveridge, Bismarck, National Health Insurance and Out of Pocket.

Beveridge is basically socialized medicine, where the government both pays for care and employs the providers. The most well-known example is Britain’s National Health Service.

In a Bismarckian system, employers provide health insurance, and costs are shared between employer and employee. Insurance plans are private and/or public. Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland have the Bismarck model.

The National Health Insurance model is single payer, in which the government pays for all healthcare costs through taxation, and the providers remain in the private sphere. Canada, Australia, Taiwan and South Korea have single payer systems.

The Out of Pocket model is basically what Third World countries have – if you’re lucky enough to see a doctor, you may have to pay an entire year’s salary for the treatment.

Reid points out that the United States has all four models. If you’re a veteran, he says, you live in Britain. If you’re employed, you’re in Germany. If you’re 65 and over, Canada. But if you’re uninsured, Afghanistan. The difference between America and the rest of the other industrialized countries, Reid says, is that the other countries have decided on one system for all their citizens.

This is a very insightful article and video about the different universal health care systems that I recommend to anyone who wants to know about the options to reduce our health care spending while we increase the quality of care and expand it to all citizens, residents and even non-residents.

Source: http://californiaonecare.org/reporter-t-r-reid-shows-america-how-the-world-does-health-care/