Comparison of US and Switzerland Healthcare Systems

This essay compares the healthcare systems of the United States and Switzerland. It discusses the differences in access to medical facilities, healthcare plans, life expectancy, and total expenditure on health. The data shows that Switzerland has a more reliable healthcare system with better life expectancy and lower under-5 mortality rate.

Running head: US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
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1US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
Health care system is the service provided by various health organizations, resources and
institution to fulfill the health related needs of population. Every country has their own health
care structure to keep the population healthy and disease free. The aim of this essay is to
compare the health care structure of Switzerland and US. Health care structure of United States
is much more complex as compared to Switzerland’s health care system.
There is a notable difference between Switzerland’s health care plans and health care
plan of United States. In United States, only a small population are capable of purchasing
medical insurance for them, while demographic population have to rely on their employers for
medical facilities. However, in Switzerland everyone has access to medical facilities at low cost
(Biller-Andorno & Zeltner, 2015). According to Swiss health care system, all citizen should be
provided with medical facilities at minimum cost to prevent cost inflation. The Switzerland
health care system also refereed as Swiss health care system and is more reliable (HealthCare,
2018).
Indicators (2016) Switzerland United States
Life expectancy at birth m/f
(years)
81/85 76/81
Total expenditure on health
per capita (Intl $)
7919 9892
Under-5 mortality rate (per
1,000 live births) (both
sexes)
3.6 6.53

2US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
Life expectancy at birth is described based on present death rate of a country. Based on,
that the age of the newborn is calculated. In Switzerland, life expectancy at birth for male and
female is 81 and 85 respectively, whereas in Australia it is 76 for male and 81 for females (Arias,
2014). Life expectancy is correlated to healthcare structure of a country. Hence from the data, it
can be concluded that Switzerland healthcare system is better. If the healthcare structure of a
country is improvised, life expectancy at birth rate will also increase.
Another indicator of healthcare system is total outlay on health care. It includes total
expenditure done by public and private health organization to keep the population healthy and
disease free. It includes the expenditure done on prevention and cure of a disease, nutrition,
emergency aid and family planning issues. From the data, it can be concluded that Switzerland
spends less that is $ 7919 (per capita) on health care whereas U.S spends $ 9892 (per capita) on
their health care system.
According to Liu et al., 2016, under 5 mortality rate is defined as the probability of
newborns dying before 5 years of age. This is determined based on the present mortality rate of
that particular age. It is calculated based on the number of death per 1000 live births. Under 5
mortality rate for both and female is 3.6 and 6.53 in Switzerland and Australia respectively.
Hence based on the data it can be stated that Switzerland has better healthcare structure as under-
5 mortality age is lower in Switzerland.
From the above essay, it can be concluded that healthcare system of Switzerland is more
reliable as compared to that of the United System. Health care system of Switzerland covers the
whole demographic population whereas, only a small vulnerable population is covered under
such medical systems by the government of United States. Although United States spends more

3US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
on health than Switzerland, life expectancy rate in case of both male and female and under-5
mortality rate is more than that of Switzerland.

4US VERSUS SWITZERLAND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
Reference
Arias, E. (2014). United States life tables, 2009.
Biller-Andorno, N., & Zeltner, T. (2015). Individual responsibility and community solidarity—
the Swiss health care system. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(23), 2193-2197.
HealthCare. (2018). Referral Requirements in the United States — HealthCare.gov Retrieved
from https://bit.ly/2QwVdEO
Liu, L., Oza, S., Hogan, D., Chu, Y., Perin, J., Zhu, J., ... & Black, R. E. (2016). Global, regional,
and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–15: an updated systematic analysis
with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lancet, 388(10063),
3027-3035. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31593-8