Australia Healthcare Compared To United States

3 Pages 625 Words

Australia’s major part of the national health care system is called “Medicare”. Medicare provides high quality health care, which is both affordable and accessible to all Australians, often provided free of charge at the point of care (http://www.health.gov.). It are financed largely from general taxation revenue, which includes a Medicare levy based on a range of taxes, such as income tax, taxes on sales of goods and services and non-tax revenue, which together form consolidated revenue. Individuals at a basic rate of 1.5% of taxable income pay this Medicare levy. Taxpayers on high incomes who do not have private health insurance pay an additional one-percent of taxable income as part of the levy. Medicare covers people residing in Australia who are Australian citizens. All people eligible for Medicare upon admission to public hospitals are entitled to choose to be public patients or private patients. If they choose to be public patients, they receive free medical and allied health/paramedical care from doctors nominated by the hospitals, as well as free accommodation, meals and other health services while in hospital. Medicare patients who choose to be private patients in public hospitals is charged fees by doctors, and are charged by the hospital for hospital care, usually at a rate less than the full cost of providing these services. Public hospitals provide medicines to inpatients free of charge. Because Australia has a high quality health care system, with low costs compared to the United States, it is an excellent destination for patients seeking treatment who cannot afford it. Those who wish to visit Australia for this purpose alone should obtain the appropriate type of visa and make arrangements for treatment and payment.
Unlike Australia, the United States provides Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid is a joint program with costs shared by both federal and state governments, while Medicare

is paid for entirely by the fe...