The healthcare system is a social structure, the distinctive and stable arrangements of social patterns that form the society as a whole, as it has the following common characteristics and functions.

• Organizes behaviors of large groups of people
• Capable of coercing individuals and groups
• Provides norms, rules, and practices
• Assigns roles and powers to individuals and groups
• Encompasses large geographical areas

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Do you realize that 1.45 percent of your paycheck goes to Medicare so that when you turn 65 you will have healthcare? This is an example of how the government organizes and even coerces (requires) that we all contribute to the Medicare system beginning with our first job. The Affordable Care Act has a mandated penalty you pay if you can afford health insurance but choose not to purchase it. This penalty is either 2.5 percent of your household income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, whichever is higher. The healthcare system develops norms that individuals follow such as maintenance of health, prevention of illness, annual physical examinations, and diagnostic procedures. The system assigns a tremendous amount of power and status to physicians but requires a long and arduous educational and clinical path. In addition to the above, the healthcare system operates throughout the U.S. in the form of doctor offices and hospitals demonstrating that it is a social structure.