Above, you will find a very rudimentary flow chart describing the American health care system. Since we are dedicating this blog to America, let's focus on a citizen of the good ole' red, white, and blue over there in the top left. He's covered by three possible options if he gets injured: two government (under)funded and one which says he pretty much has to fend for himself. Let's say the American citizen isn't over 65 and is gaining a reasonable income and has no disabilities. So that leaves him with two options regarding care: either purchase private insurance in the blue or go uninsured, which is in the red. Let's say now that this individual is right out of college and in good-to-decent health. Wanting to save a few dollars he, just as an example, decides to go uninsured. At that point, he has three options if he breaks something or becomes ill: self-pay, charity care, or emergency care (EMTALA). We can all see that this young citizen is experimenting with very risky medical behavior since, as we all know, life happens and injuries don't usually fire warning shots. Let's back up then, and say that our smart young student decides to fork over the dough and go with private insurance. This can be great or it could lead you to bankruptcy. So, let's see where it goes. Once the decision has been made to go private, our student is faced with more options: either insurance is purchased through the student’s job and he qualifies that way or he buys it himself. Both of these choices lead to more confusing things, so we are just going to stop there.

So, I think we can all see how confusing that system is, and that example doesn't even cover all of the intricacies both with public and private health care. Now, let's take that example and compare it to the 2015 top-ranked country for health care, France. In a poll done by the WHO (World Health Organization) taken in order to rank the world's health care systems, America ranked 37th while, as I said, France grabbed the trophy at the top. Surprisingly, in this same poll neither America nor Canada, long-time "rivals" in the health care debate, were able to even make it in the top 25. Let's use the same example we used in America and apply it to the French system. First, we need a flow chart. Sadly, none really exists because it's very simple. The healthcare system over in France is so simplified that is really just a two-step system. Using our example from earlier, our young healthy college grad unexpectedly gets sick, what is he going to do? Well in France, it is easy! He will first acknowledge that he is sick, and second, he will go receive care. No co-pay required. Then our intrepid young adult goes home and continues on with his life. Simple, huh?

Enough with examples. Time to turn our attention to some raw data. A big number that is thrown around is how much per capita is spent per patient. Let's start with France. Per capita the French spend $3,317 per patient. America spends roughly $4,160 per patient. According to "Forbes" back in 2012, America is spending the third highest amount per patient while France is solidly in the middle at 10th.

I feel like I have beat this horse to death with examples and such, so here are some final points that America should change in order to better themselves. One, mandate a true fully functioning "Affordable Health Care" system, No, I don't mean the one that's failing now, I mean the one that was originally brought forth by Hillary Clinton back when Bill was president (a true single-payer system). Second, health care should be a government standard, like most countries with top-tier health care systems. Finally, knock down the drugs a few notches. Have doctors focus on preventative treatments rather than Band-Aid solutions.

There we have it folks, a reform for health care. Now, I didn't get into all the detail of where the money goes in anything since it gets quite confusing in the American system. If you do wish for more detail, I highly recommend a documentary focusing on this topic. I suggest "Sicko" by Michael Moore, but that is just a favorite of mine, and in the end only one guy's opinion.

As always, please share this series with friends, co-workers, students, or even parents. The point is to spread the word and get people talking about the real issues in this great land.

*http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/08/...