Health Insurance Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Insurance - Research Paper Example This calls for government intervention in health insurance costs to yield lower rates and better services. This paper discusses the reasons why government should be directly involved in health insurance. A recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund on health involving industrialised nations rated America in the lowest rank. According to Davis, Schoen, and Stremikis, â€Å"In July 2008, the Commission released the second National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, which ranked the nation’s performance on 37 indicators, 11 of which were based on international comparisons† (Davis, Schoen, and Stremikis). The parameters used in this survey include equality of health outcomes across its population, fairness of financial contributions, and patient responsiveness. The current health insurance system is financed by employers as a benefit to their employees. Low and middle-income earners do not get these benefits from employers and since they cannot afford from their mean salaries, they remain uninsured. Government involvement in health insurance will see to it that all its citizens can access it. Further analysis of the US health insurance costs problem reveals that most of the funds contributed by companies and individuals get into the hands of the administrators. This means that a lesser percentage than expected of these contributions go into actual health care of these individuals. This leaves the individuals who participate in this programme paying very high costs that do not match up the care given. Government involvement in a health insurance programme will allow it to have an added advantage to bargain better prices of drugs and services. The administration costs will no longer be there and reduced drug costs will make the prices of insurance to go down. In addition, single payer systems through government involvement will enable the government to hold down costs as it covers the entire population. Canada is a very good example of a state tha t uses the single payer system efficiently. According to Segal’s Health Care Reform Journal, â€Å"In 2006, the U.S. spent $6,714 per capita† without covering all its citizens, â€Å"while Canada †¦ spent $3,678† with universal coverage† (Clemmitt). America should learn from such states and involve the government. Government involvement in health care insurance will make it possible to track all the activities in the health system. The government will have no choice, therefore, than to give the best medical care in the world. To safeguard financial stability of this system with the government in it, citizens must enrol to prevent issues of people who do not sign up until they are sick. Some costs go up because of advanced technology that prolongs the lives of individuals who have terminal illnesses. For example, cancer patients live for six months longer with the help of some machines. According to Callahan as quoted in Health Care Reform Journal, â⠂¬Å"We will have to learn better how to live with that reality, to understand that limits to health care are necessary. We cannot afford endlessly expensive progress. Concretely, that means we will have to accept rationing† (Clemmitt). Since most insurers are out to make profits rather than to offer best medical care, government involvement will change this. Buyers will have another choice of insurance plan, which is government run and this will keep off non-genuine private insurers. However,

Business Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Culture - Essay Example We suggest that those that involve a combination of cultures are even more at risk. The poor success rate due to concentrating only on financial aspects will be even more detrimental in cultures where priorities lie elsewhere. We also believe that corporations actually sacrifice performance by neglecting to profitably leverage differences in culture and that culture mix is potentially advantageous. Western companies working internationally and planning joint ventures in China, Japan or India are unlikely to have put in place a working global strategy for themselves. To do this, they will need to identify what can be standardised between cultures and what must be localised (Yip). Some corporations know how to do this, McDonald's being a good example. Others do not: Burger King failed in at least one European country for this reason. Part of the cultural differences is the business management differences. We have seen companies from both the East and the West unsuccessfully try to impose their own style of management in completely different cultural contexts. In our opinion, there is no one management theory that is generally applicable, just as there is no "one-size-fits-all" culture. Compounded by fundamental differences in values, religions and languages, the business culture between East and West has developed in different ways. Some of these differences are immediate. The difference in language, both spoken and written, characters for some, ideograms for others. From our experience, a westerner's first glimpse of eastern cultural differences comes from the initial business communications, particularly in face-to-face meetings. Where the westerner expects to describe everything in great detail, the eastern cultures are more oriented to a context rich in non-verbal information, where less sometimes means more (Hall). China in particular has occasioned much discussion and revamping of business models. Hofstede in his model of cultural dimensions first defined four dimensions and then added the fifth, "Long-term vs. Short-term", to take account of China (Hofstede). We see this criterion, dealing with the attitude of persevering to overcome problems in time, as be ing typically weighted towards the long term for Asian countries in general. Going further than some of the other models defined, we can start to characterise China, Japan and India for joint ventures in different ways. Thus China is an example of a "diffuse" culture, where responsibility is shared or diffused (Trompenaars), compared with the "specific" culture of a country like the UK, where responsibility is specifically assigned. Japan can be described as having a synchronic culture (doing several things at once) compared to a typical western sequential culture. India with its caste system is a prime example of a culture functioning by ascription (status is given according to social standing) rather than the western ideal of achievement and meritocracy. China - cultural difficulties for a joint venture Of the three nations considered (China, Japan and India), China is perhaps the one that has undergone the most profound changes in the last century. The change from empire to republic and the transfer of power from self-elected dynasty to revolutionary leaders backed by the population were fundamental alterations. However, the