Post a cohesive response that addresses the following: Post information on the nursing or health-related policies you located including a reference to the source. Indicate the country you are comparing to the U.S. Compare and contrast the two policies. What insights did you gain as a result of this comparison? What is the role of international organizations in developing policy? Provide a specific example. Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Post a cohesive response that addresses the following: Post information on the nursing or health-related policies you located including a reference to the source. Indicate the country you are comparing to the U.S. Compare and contrast the two policies. What insights did you gain as a result of this comparison? What is the role of international organizations in developing policy? Provide a specific example. Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Week 10 Discussion Question

Nurses require international perspectives on a host of issue that impact health and nursing in other countries. The knowledge and information are critical in allowing nurses understand the different components that impact care delivery. The enactment of the Affordable Care Act 2010 meant that more Americans could enroll on health plans offered by state and federal governments. However, millions are still without health insurance and the U.S. continues to spend more of its GDP on health than any of her peers. Canada has a health care insurance model focused on increasing accessibility, quality, and lowering the cost of care

Healthcare in Canada and the U.S. differs despite both countries having health care insurance coverage. While in both countries health insurance is the main way individuals pay for their health care, the primary difference is the funding of health insurance. In the U.S., individuals fund their health care insurance (Santhanam, 2020). The only exception is when they are eligible for one of the government-funded insurance programs that include Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Health Administration. In Canada, the federal government provides funding for health care insurance to governments. The only condition is for the governments to follow the regulations of Canada Health Act (CHA). Through the federal funding, all Canadian citizens get health insurance through the national health care system.

The insight gained from this comparison is that federal government in collaboration with state governments can provide universal healthcare to all American citizens and even residents to increase access and affordability (The Commonwealth Fund, 2020). The comparison shows that the United States lags behind its peers in developed countries in provision of universal health coverage.

International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) play a critical role in development of policies, especially in health sector. These entities offer evidence-based findings and models that nations and their health experts can implement to increase access and reduce the cost of care. These organizations also fund studies to evaluate the effectiveness of certain policies (Unruh et al., 2021). The implication is that through research studies, these entities collaborate with national health care systems to institute policy measures that lead to increased access to health care services.

References

Santhanam, L. (2020 August 31). How Canada got universal health care and what the U.S.

could learn. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-canada-got-universal-health-care-and-what-the-u-s-could-learn

Unruh, L., Allin, S., Marchildon, G., Burke, S., Barry, S., Siersbaek, R., … & Williams, G. A.

(2021). A comparison of 2020 health policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Health Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.06.012