[Name of the Writer]

[Name of Instructor]

[Subject]

[Date]

How Americans spend their money

Introduction

Every country follows a different pattern of expenditure. Some of the nations prefer to spend more on food, whereas some spend more on healthcare and housing. It is the poor countries that spend more on food and clothing because of the level of poverty that prevails in the society. However, the rich countries are seen to be spending more on luxurious items. The paper will discuss the expenditure pattern of the United States and the extent to which it differs from other countries. The paper will establish that the Americans spend more on healthcare as compared to other countries because of the absence of a subsidized healthcare system. The paper will also establish that they spend more on housing and less on clothing and food.

Discussion

Healthcare

The healthcare is one of the most important domains to be mentioned here. Americans, as compared to other countries, pay for their healthcare facilities because of the absence of a subsidized system. It is estimated that Americans pay a significant portion of their incomes for their healthcare expenses. As compared to other countries, they have to pay twice as much. People in countries like the United Kingdom that has a subsidized healthcare system have to pay less because of the significantly lesser prices that are charged for healthcare facilities. In the U.S, the healthcare industry, unlike other countries, is treated as a profitable industry because of the prices that the healthcare professionals can charge. The industry leadership does not considered healthcare a welfare-oriented domain because they believe in the philosophy of charging for all the services rendered, no matter what the domain is. The healthcare costs are high because of the fact that the costs related to the research and development in the domain of medicine are high. These costs cannot be bypassed, which is why the burden is shifted to the end-user (Peterson and Rachel, 2007).

The healthcare costs have increased with time. In 1980, Americans spend $256 billion as healthcare costs, whereas in 2010, they spent more than $2.6 trillion in the domain of healthcare. Such a rise suggests that the healthcare expenditure has increased due to the advent of modern technology in the medical field (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2008). The healthcare units have to install modern technological equipment to cater the needs of the patients, which makes it important for them to charge their patients more. The healthcare insurance costs have also increased at a phenomenal level because it has become difficult for the healthcare companies to meet the needs of the customers by charging a low premium. It is estimated that the rate of healthcare costs has increased at a higher level than the rate of increase in national income. This becomes a reason for the U.S nationals to pay a higher rate for medical facilities as compared to other nations.

Housing

If an analysis of figures of the housing industry is done, it would be established that the accommodation costs in America are ...