I. Health Service in the usa and gb
1. What are the levels of Health Service in the USA?
Health care in the USA is organized in three levels: family doctor, the medical institution or hospital and the USA Public Health Service.
2. What parts does the NHS in GB consist of?
The NHS consists of three parts: the Local Health Authorities, the General Practitioners and Hospitals or Specialists Services.
3. Do patients and doctors have any choice in GB?
The patient in England can choose between the NHS and private treatment, he can take one part with the service, the other privately. If he’s dissatisfied with his NHS family doctor or dentist, he may change to another one.
As for doctors and dentists, they are free in choice too. All of them may take part in the Family Doctor System, can choose whether they want to join the NHS or not and of they can have NHS and private patients.
4. What kinds of medical institutions are there in GB?
The hospital service includes general and special hospitals, tuberculosis sanatoria, infectious disease units, all forms of specialized treatment together with the provision of most surgical and medical needs. Besides the hospitals there are infirmatories (a room in an institution used for sick people) and nursing homes (a private small hospitals for patients and aged people). There are centers, which provide consultant services in general medicine and surgery, ear-nose-throat diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, psychiatry and orthopedics.
5. When did “Medicare” and “Medicaid” start? What for?
Medicare, started in 1967, is a federal program providing free medical care for aged Americans over 65, those, who in the past had the greatest medical expenses.
Medicaid, started in 1966, is a federal-state program, providing the medical care for the poor and aged, for the blind and dependent children.
6. Is Health Service in GB free or not? What do people pay for?
The medical treatment in GB is free but charges are made for drugs, spectacles and dental care. Free emergency medical treatment is given to any visitor from abroad who becomes ill while staying in the country. But those who come to England specially for treatment must pay for it.
7. What problems are there in GB and the USA?
In the GB there are such problems: death rates among poor people are more that twice high as among more affluent groups. The poorest can expect to die eight years sooner than the richest. Another area in which little progress has been made is a preventive medicine.
In the USA there are problems among people of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Children who live near or below the poverty level see a physician less frequently then children in families with higher income. The death rate for black adults aged 25-44 years is more than 2.5 times higher than for white adults. HIV infection is the leading killer of black adults and the second leading killer among Hispanic adults.
8. How do people in the USA pay for their treatment?
Most of the population have private health insurance. Most employers and their families now pay more then 50% of the cost of health insurance. For those who cannot let them insurance there were started Medicare and Medicaid.