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Main Characteristics of the American Healthcare System

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Healthcare Management

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Business and Economics ((STBE))

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Abstract

The American healthcare system differs substantially from European systems in terms of the service providers as well as payers. Even if the general discussion may provide this impression, it must be acknowledged that “the one” American healthcare system does not exist. Effectively, healthcare in the United States is made up of a multitude of sub-systems, existing in parallel and partially overlapping. The healthcare systems in California and New York differ as much as that of Germany and the Netherlands at the very least. There are, however, some market segments in the United States that are uniform. This includes the Medicare programme, through which healthcare for the elderly is financed, and Veteran Affairs (the healthcare system for active and former soldiers), for example.

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Amelung, V.E. (2013). Main Characteristics of the American Healthcare System. In: Healthcare Management. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38712-8_2

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