What the U.S. can learn from Australia's hybrid health care system

Australia's hybrid system of both private and public health care offers, literally, something for everyone in the country. Although there are questions about the longevity of the private sector of insurance as it pertains to the future, and the universal public health system leaves something to be desired especially as it pertains to equitably cover everyone, "in the aggregate, the system works very well."

Taiwan's single-payer health care model has helped to guarantee health care access to everyone in the country, no matter their socioeconomic status, geographical location or pre-exisitng conditions. Although the model evolved from a once-broken system, the idea of "one national health insurance plan, run by the government, covering everybody" quickly grew in popularity due to its simplicity, comprehensive benefit structure, and relatively low and consistent premiums.

Rwanda is a poor, rural country with a troubled history. Yet the country has built an effective national health system by tackling the diseases of poverty, such as diarrhea and pneumonia, with smart use of international aid and local health workers.

In collaboration with Intuitive Health, UF Health has opened three centers that offer both ER and urgent care 24/7, at the same facility so patients don’t have to decide themselves which care they need. Instead, doctors at the center make that decision and then the system bills the patient accordingly. This helps them avoid taking on expensive ER bills when that level of care may not have been necessary.

The Chicago-based Latino Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders Alliance (LAMDA) has helped connect "Latinos who have memory diseases with clinical support" by focusing on creating connections and using memory-health surveys. The program relies on bicultural community health promoters who are embedded within the community and visit places such as health fairs, nursing home lobbies and churches to offer resources and "conduct memory tests and evaluations on at-risk elders."

Rural hospitals across the country often struggle to stay open in states where Medicaid has not been expanded, but a method known as "swing beds" has helped two critical-access hospitals in Georgia to avoid this fate. This method, which allows hospitals to swing beds from "only patients in need of acute care to those who no longer require the emergency department but still needed more treatment before a nursing home," allowed for the hospitals to pay off debt and expand services.

Switzerland is home to the world's lowest avoidable mortality rate and residents of the country live longer lives and are healthier than those who live in the United States. Health policy experts credit the Swiss health care system for playing a significant role. Despite the high cost and the penalty for not carrying insurance, the system is praised as guarateeing access to quality health-care and "unlike the U.S., people rarely go bankrupt from medical bills."

The United States is facing a coronavirus testing problem that is due to both governmental inaction and an inefficient health care system, but the nation has faced a similar problem before. When determining how best to distribute electricity, the creation of the national electric grid decentralized access, which in turn increased supply and lowered costs. To follow a similar path in regards to COVID-19 testing access, South Korea provides an example for what "a functional national grid can deliver when it comes to public health."

The health insurance company, United Healthcare, has started a program called myConnections that funds housing for Philadelphia citizens experiencing homelessness and chronic illness. United Healthcare will pay for rent as well as wraparound social services like transportation and food stamps. The program, which has spread to a dozen states, recognizes health as a key driver of poverty, and is bound by the idea that addressing housing can shift people out of poverty and poor health, and will save health insurance companies money too.

Many times, a person's economic stability can directly impact other aspects of their life, such as their personal health. Realizing this connection, a Canadian doctor has started prescribing social services as complementary treatment for his patient's ailments.