10 BEST COUNTRIES FOR HEALTHCARE INVESTMENT
Are you looking for the best countries to invest in healthcare infrastructure? Are you aware of the top 10 countries with better healthcare infrastructure? Hospaccx healthcare business consultancy has mapped all the information related to 10 best countries for healthcare investment.
If you need a refined market and financial feasibility or any other study related to healthcare is required you can contact Hospaccx Healthcare business consulting Pvt. ltd on Hospaccx.India@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION:
The healthcare sector is made up of many different industries – from pharmaceuticals and devices to health insurers and hospitals – and each has different dynamics. Investments in this sector are affected by many variables, including positive trends related to demographics and negative trends related to reimbursement. Healthcare investing requires a multifaceted approach to understand the underlying drivers. Investors can profit from investments in both the overall sector and/or its industries.
1) CANADA:
- Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984 and is universal. Universal access to publicly funded health services is often considered by Canadians as a fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country. Canadian Medicare provides coverage for approximately 70 percent of Canadians’ healthcare needs, and the remaining 30 percent is paid for through the private sector.
- The 30 percent typically relates to services not covered or only partially covered by Medicare, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry. Approximately 65 to 75 percent of Canadians have some form of supplementary health insurance related to the aforementioned reasons; many receive it through their employers or use secondary social service programs related to extended coverage for families receiving social assistance or vulnerable demographics, such as seniors, minors, and those with disabilities.
- In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a cost increase due to a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age.
2) DENMARK:
- Healthcare in Denmark is largely provided by the local governments of the five regions, with coordination and regulation by central government, while nursing homes, home care, and school health services are the responsibility of the 98 municipalities. Some specialized hospital services are managed centrally.
- Danish government healthcare expenditures amount to approximately 10.4% of the GDP, of which around 84% is funded from regional and municipal taxation redistributed by the central government. Because necessary healthcare is taxpayer-funded, personal expenses are minimal and usually associated with copayments for certain services. Those expenses are usually covered by private health insurance.
- Use of electronic health records is widespread, and efforts are underway to integrate these at the regional level.
- For every 1,000 people in Denmark, there are about 3.4 doctors and 2.5 hospital beds. Spending on hospital facilities, at 43% of total health care spending, is above the average for OECD countries, even though the number of beds has decreased considerably. Child vaccination coverage is over 90%. Mortality from heart disease decreased in the years up to 2015, while life expectancy increased.
3) SWEDEN:
- The Swedish health care system is mainly government-funded, universal for all citizens and decentralized, although private health care also exists. The health care system in Sweden is financed primarily through taxes levied by county councils and municipalities. A total of 21 councils are in charge with primary and hospital care within the country.
- Private healthcare is a rarity in Sweden, and even those private institutions work under the mandated city councils. The city council regulates the rules and the establishment of potential private practices. Although in most countries care for the elderly or those who need psychiatric help is conducted privately, in Sweden local, publicly funded authorities are in charge of this type of care. The Swedish government tries to limit private firms in healthcare. The government takes precautions to eliminate profit seeking in the welfare/public health sector.
- Private companies in 2015 provide about 20% of public hospital care and about 30% of public primary care, although in 2014 a survey by the SOM Institute found that 69% of Swedes were opposed to private companies profiting from providing public education, health, and social care, with only about 15% actively in favor.
- Costs for health and medical care amounted to approximately 9 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product in 2005, a figure that remained fairly stable since the early 1980s. By 2015 the cost had risen to 11.9% of GDP -the highest in Europe. Seventy-one percent of health care is funded through local taxation, and county councils have the right to collect income tax. The state pays for approximately 97% of medical costs.
4) NORWAY:
- In Norway, all hospitals are funded by the public as part of the national budget. However, while medical treatment is free of charge for any person younger than the age of sixteen, residents who have reached adulthood must pay a deductible each year before becoming eligible for an exemption card. The card entitles one to free healthcare for the remainder of that year.
- All public hospitals in Norway are run by four Regional Health Authorities (RHA) overseen by the Ministry of Health and Care Services. In addition to these public hospitals, there are a small number of privately owned health clinics currently operating.
- Expenditure on healthcare is about USD $6,647 per head per year (2016), among the highest in the world. It has the highest proportion of nurses and midwives per head in Europe – 1,744 per 100,000 in 2015. While the availability of public healthcare is universal in Norway, there are certain payment stipulations.
- Norway scores overall very high on different rankings in health care performances worldwide.
- Unique for the Norwegian health care system is that the state funds almost all expenses a patient would have. Patients with extra high expenses due to a permanent illness receive a tax deduction. In 2010, 9.4% of the country’s GDP went to health spending, and only about 1.4% of that was private spending.
- In 2017, 10.4% of the country’s GDP went to health spending. Norway has one of the lowest private healthcare spending rates in the world. In 2007, out-of-pocket payments made up 15% of total health expenditure, in 2010 private (out-of-pocket) money payments are up to 15.3%, reflecting moderate cost-sharing requirements. The government creates an annual health budget for the following year, every year in December. This budget includes all expenses within the health branch of Norway.
5) GERMANY:
- Germany has a universal multi-payer health care system paid for by a combination of statutory health insurance and private health insurance.
- The turnover of the health sector was about US$368.78 billion (€287.3 billion) in 2010, equivalent to 11.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and about US$4,505 (€3,510) per capita.
- According to the Euro health consumer index, which placed it in seventh position in its 2015 survey, Germany has long had the most restriction-free and consumer-oriented healthcare system in Europe. Patients are allowed to seek almost any type of care they wish whenever they want it. The governmental health system in Germany is currently keeping a record reserve of more than €18 billion which makes it one of the healthiest healthcare systems in the world.
6) UNITED KINGDOM:
- Health care in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences now exist between these systems.
- Despite there being separate health services for each country, the performance of the National Health Service (NHS) across the UK can be measured for the purpose of making international comparisons. In a 2017 report by the Commonwealth Fund ranking developed-country healthcare systems, the United Kingdom was ranked the best healthcare system in the world overall and was ranked the best in the following categories: Care Process (i.e. effective, safe, coordinated, patient-oriented) and Equity. The UK system was ranked the best in the world overall in the previous three reports by the Commonwealth Fund in 2007, 2010 and 2014.
- UK’s palliative care has also been ranked as the best in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit. On the other hand, in 2005-09 cancer survival rates lagged ten years behind the rest of Europe, although survival rates continue to increase.
- In 2015, the UK was 14th (out of 35) in the annual Euro health consumer index. It was criticized for its poor accessibility and “an autocratic top-down management culture” The index has in turn been criticized by academics, however.
- The total expenditure on healthcare as a proportion of GDP in 2013 was 8.5%, below the OECD average of 8.9% and considerably less than comparable economies such as France (10.9%), Germany (11.0%), Netherlands (11.1%), Switzerland (11.1%) and the USA (16.4%).
- The percentage of healthcare provided directly by the state is higher than most European countries, which have insurance-based healthcare with the state providing for those who cannot afford insurance. In 2017 the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, the second lowest of the Group of Seven, but around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
7) JAPAN:
- The health care system in Japan provides healthcare services, including screening examinations, prenatal care and infectious disease control, with the patient accepting responsibility for 30% of these costs while the government pays the remaining 70%. Payment for personal medical services is offered by a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. All residents of Japan are required by the law to have health insurance coverage. People without insurance from employers can participate in a national health insurance programme, administered by local governments.
- Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice and cannot be denied coverage. Hospitals, by law, must be run as non-profit and be managed by physicians.
- In Japan, services are provided either through regional/national public hospitals or through private hospitals/clinics, and patients have universal access to any facility, though hospitals tend to charge more to those patients without a referral. As above, costs in Japan tend to be quite low compared to those in other developed countries, but utilization rates are much higher. Japanese patients favor medical technology such as CT scans and MRIs, and they receive MRIs at a per capita rate 8 times higher than the British and twice as high as Americans. In most cases, CT scans, MRIs and many other tests do not require waiting periods.
- Japan has about three times as many hospitals per capita as the US and, on average, Japanese people visit the hospital more than four times as often as the average American.
8) AUSTRALIA:
Australia has a highly developed health care structure, though because of its vast size, services are not evenly distributed. Health care is delivered in Australia by both government and private companies who are often covered by Medicare. Health care in Australia is largely funded by the government at national, state and local governmental levels, as well as by private health insurance; but the cost of health care is also borne by not-for-profit organizations, with a significant cost being borne by individual patients or by charity.
In 2017–18, total health spending was $185.4 billion, equating to $7,485 per person, an increase of 1.2%, which was lower than the decade average of 3.9%. The majority of health spending went on hospitals (40%) and primary health care (34%). Health spending accounted for 10% of overall economic activity.
Public and private hospitals:
Public hospitals:
Public hospitals provide high quality medical care and provide care at low or even no cost to people with access to Medicare. They are usually where you go if you have an emergency.
If you need non-urgent treatment, and choose to be a public patient, you may need to wait longer until a space becomes available, you won’t be able to choose your doctor (you’ll be looked after by the doctor on-call for your health issue or condition), and may be in a shared room with other people while you recover.
Public hospitals are funded and by the government, but also get funded by health insurance when patients choose to use their private cover in a public hospital.
Private hospitals:
Private hospitals are owned and operated by the private organizations but licensed and regulated by the government. Typically, you’ll get:
- Choice as a private patient regarding aspects of your care, like choosing your doctor
- Reduced waiting time for elective or planned surgeries
- The choice of a private room (if available and medically appropriate)
- You can also be treated as a private patient in a public hospital, treated by your choice of doctor.
9) NETHERLANDS:
The Netherlands has universal healthcare, but the government requires all adults living or working in the Netherlands to have basic insurance. The basic plan will cost € 100-120 out of pocket. If you’re employed, your employer will pay a small percentage towards medical coverage as well. Children under the age of 18 don’t pay for health insurance.
Hospitals:
The Dutch have 3 types of hospitals: university hospitals, general hospitals, and teaching hospitals. When on a routine visit to a hospital to see a specialist, patients will be asked for details to register before the treatment. The hospital will issue a patient ID card which you bring back with you on visits. The basic health insurance coverage will cover hospital care, though you may have to pay an excess fee depending on the treatment.
Health insurance:
There are 2 types of health insurance coverage:
- compulsory basic insurance
- optional additional insurance
The government sets the standards for the basic health coverage. In 2017, this included:
- GP visits
- some specialist care
- hospital care
- some mental health treatments
- medication
- dental care up to age 18
- maternity care
- dietary advice
- some therapy treatments
10) SWITZERLAND:
Healthcare in Switzerland is universal and is regulated by the Swiss Federal Law on Health Insurance. There are no free state-provided health services, but private health insurance is compulsory for all persons residing in Switzerland.
Health insurance covers the costs of medical treatment and hospitalization of the insured.
However, the insured person pays part of the cost of treatment. This is done (a) by means of an annual deductible (called the franchise), which ranges from CHF 300 (PPP-adjusted US$ 184) to a maximum of CHF 2,500 (PPP-adjusted $1,534) for an adult as chosen by the insured person (premiums are adjusted accordingly) and (b) by a charge of 10% of the costs over and above the excess up to a stop-loss amount of CHF 700 (PPP-adjusted $429).
The basic health insurance policy covers:
- Out-patient treatment by officially recognized doctors
- Emergency treatment
- A contribution to transport/rescue expenses
- Medicines prescribed by a doctor and on an official list
- Maternity check-ups, tests, ante-natal classes, childbirth
- Abortions and gynecological check-ups
- Vaccinations
- Rehabilitation after operations or illness
- Medical treatment when on short trips outside of Switzerland
- Some alternative therapies, like homeopathy, Chinese medicine, and psychotherapy if this is offered in the medical practice.
Conclusion:
The above top 10 countries provide the best facilities in infrastructure, services, equipment and medical treatments. The health insurance covers the costs of medical treatments and hospitalization of the insured. Investing in healthcare can provide generous returns. The healthcare sector is vast, and there are many large and small companies to choose from in various industries.
It is the superficial and macro level study for more details kindly contact Hospaccx Healthcare business consulting Pvt. ltd on Hospaccx.India@gmail.com
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