How Does the United States Remain Competitive in the Global Market? Research Paper Example

While it at first doesn’t appear that the United States is able to remain competitive in the global market, it was found that the healthcare reform bill will help to decrease the federal deficit by $139 billion by 2019. Before the healthcare reform bill, the country’s economy was hurt by the amount of money spent on healthcare both by the government and by employers. As a consequence, the United States was at a competitive disadvantage because it spent 17% of its GDP on healthcare, which is higher than that of any other developed country (Johnson, 2012). Interestingly, despite this, the United States still had one of the weakest healthcare systems in place. While countries like Canada afford universal healthcare for all of its citizens, the amount of money that the United States spent only gave health insurance to the elderly and poor, and even so, very few individuals were eligible and related costs were still high.

While the United States is finally improving in the global market in this aspect, it is important to consider many of the attributes that we have that prevented us from dropping out of the race. These attributes include the skills of our workers, the regulatory agencies that ensure quality business, investment in healthcare despite rising costs, and access to capital (Stern, 2013). In this country, we have many healthcare professionals who are good at what they are doing. Even though it appears that healthcare costs are high, this attracts talent so we have some of the best doctors in the world. Furthermore, our access to capital is pronounced; if a state or private individual wishes to open a hospital or clinic, it is likely that they will be able to receive the loans necessary to do so.

References

Johnson, T. (2012). Healthcare Costs and U.S. Competitiveness. Retrieved from             http://www.cfr.org/competitiveness/healthcare-costs-us-competitiveness/p13325

Stern, MJ. (2013). 4 Ways American Businesses Keep an Edge on the Competition. Retrieved   from http://roadshow.slate.com/4-ways-american-businesses-keep-an-edge-on-the-competition/