Letters to the editor can be a platform for experts in their fields to share perspectives on debated issues of the day. As a healthcare professional, you are uniquely positioned to compare the United States to other health systems around the globe. Despite the high expenditures in the United States, outcomes are still poor compared to other nations. Why is there a mismatch between healthcare spending and outcomes in the United States? How does the United States compare to other developed and developing countries?

Prompt

You have been invited to provide a letter to the editor of a scholarly health journal. The editor has requested that you identify the financial impacts of health and non-health policies in developed and developing countries. Specifically, how do these policies impact cost expenditures in the United States? Be sure to include specific points evaluating healthcare infrastructure, political barriers, and social inequities impacting health outcomes in developed and developing societies.

Note that you should cite at least three scholarly sources from your investigation. The evidence should not be older than five years. To access the Shapiro Library Guide: Nursing—Graduate, go to the Start Here section of the course.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Healthcare Costs: Explain the causes of high healthcare spending in the United States compared to other developed and developing countries.
   1. Structural Causes: Describe the healthcare infrastructure of the United States and compare it to those of other countries. In what ways do these structural components drive up healthcare spending in the United States?
   2. Political Causes: Analyze health and non-health policies in the United States and compare them to those of other countries. In what ways do these political factors drive up healthcare spending in the United States?
2. Healthcare Outcomes: Explain the results of high healthcare spending in the United States compared to other developed and developing countries.
   1. Effectiveness: Evaluate the healthcare outcomes of the United States considering its spending. To what extent does the United States benefit from its high healthcare spending compared to other nations?
   2. Inequities: Evaluate the inequities generated by healthcare costs in the United States as compared to other countries. To what extent do healthcare outcomes differ amongst various groups in the United States?