3. “ Head of State” (2003) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXLby6zDVG8

11. a more detailed comparison...

12. There are 3 system types under universal health care: (1) single payer, (2) two-tier, and (3) insurance mandate Single Payer: “The government provides insurance for all residents (or citizens) and pays all health care expenses except for copays and coinsurance. Providers may be public, private, or a combination of both” Insurance Mandate: “The government mandates that all citizens purchase insurance, whether from private, public, or non-profit insurers. In some cases the insurer list is quite restrictive, while in others a healthy private market for insurance is simply regulated and standardized by the government. In this kind of system insurers are barred from rejecting sick individuals, and individuals are required to purchase insurance, in order to prevent typical health care market failures from arising.” http://truecostblog.com/2009/08/09/countries-with-universal-healthcare-by-date/ United Kingdom Japan Germany Taiwan Switzerland United States System Type Single Payer Single Payer Insurance Mandate Single Payer Insurance Mandate Insurance Mandate

13. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/countries/ United Kingdom Japan Germany Taiwan Switzerland How it works? The system is funded through taxes, administrative costs are low; there are no bills to collect or claims to review Unlike the U.K., there are no gatekeepers; they can go to any specialist that they would like to, whenever they want to. Sickness funds are nonprofit and cannot deny coverage based on preexisting conditions. The sickness funds bargain with doctors as a group The Taiwanese can see any doctor without a referral. Every citizen has a smart card, which is used to store his or her medical history and bill the national insurer. Insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit on basic care and are prohibited from cherry-picking only young and healthy applicants Questions, Comments & Concerns The stereotype of socialized medicine -- long waits and limited choice -- still has some truth. In response, the British government has instituted reforms to help make care more competitive and give patients more choice Japan has been so successful at keeping costs down that Japan now spends too little on health care; half of the hospitals in Japan are operating in the red The single-payment system leaves some German doctors feeling underpaid. Germany also lets the richest 10 percent opt out of the sickness funds in favor of U.S.-style for-profit insurance. Taiwan's system is not taking in enough money to cover the medical care it provides. It is related to politics because Taiwan's parliament must approve an increase in insurance premiums The Swiss system is the second most expensive in the world. Drug prices are still slightly higher than in other European nations

14. ...a comparison of Switzerland and the United States...

16. Being that the U.S. modeled Switzerland’s system of health care, is it a good idea? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VWANhILPEU

17. With what we know about the new health care reform in the U.S., and our crash course on Switzerland’s health care, what are the pros and cons of the United State’s universal health care?

19. Regardless, not everyone is going to be happy...universal coverage, no coverage, single payer, insurance mandate, etc. There are, “Huge wave of protests, and in November starts a huge wave of protests against limitation of services in the health service. And during the next 11 months, every[one] protests and say[s], "We want the new vaccines; we want improvement of that; we want these new drugs." And one month in the year, they protest against the consequences of the rest of the year.” Pascal Couchepin Swiss President In response to the question: “Here's what you're going to pay next year"?