Taking a Closer Look at National Healthcare Systems

Many critics of the American healthcare system point to other countries as model examples of the way healthcare should be. But, a new paper released by the CATO Institute shows that countries with national healthcare systems have significant problems of their own, including rising cost of care and lack of access to care.

According to the CATO Institute, countries that have systems with more government involvement are the most likely to have obstacles to care; such as waiting lists, rationing, and restriction on physician choice. These systems are also likely to have gatekeepers, co-payments, and cost sharing. Cost sharing is becoming more and more common in these systems as overseas healthcare costs rise and governments struggle to deal with the increases.

While none of these countries is currently considering dropping universal coverage, the trend is to move away from government centralized control and toward more market-based systems.

Critics proposing that America should move into a government-based universal coverage system are proposing that the country move from one broken system to another. Consumer-directed healthcare continues to be the best solution, not just in America, but across the globe. It is time to let the patients, not the government, step up and take control of their healthcare.

To read the CATO Institutes Report, The Grass is Not Always Greener, click here.