Healthcare Policy Essay

Healthcare plays an important role in almost every person’s life at one point or another. Many times, one can get caught without, or underinsured and it can be detrimental to their livelihood. With the rising cost of healthcare, it is likely that having a national healthcare policy in place, and as an individual, being able to afford and obtain adequate health insurance has not been required until now. With the new national healthcare plan, it is required for all citizens to obtain and maintain some sort of public or private insurance policy. The rising costs can be attributed to many things. A significant reason for the astronomical cost of health care is because of the staggering amount of uninsured or underinsured individuals receiving medical attention and almost many never paying the bill. Those who do have insurance have seen a gradual increase in their premiums and deductibles to make up for this.
Healthcare Policy has been through many ups and downs over the years. The first United States legislature to involve healthcare dates back to 1798, when “The Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen” was adopted. This approach is not very different in how healthcare works today. The act called for a 200 cent tax on seamen in order to pay for their health care. But it wasn’t until 1912, when President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned on a platform to adopt a single national health service. Finally a program called Medicaid was adopted to insure low income families, and in 1966, Medicare was adopted, guaranteeing health care for those over the age of 65 who paid into the system. Finally, The Affordable Health Care for America Act was introduced in 2009, and while it has changed and been revised a few times since then, it is th...

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...l many years from now, but providing affordable healthcare to the population is something nobody should complain about and to me and in many peoples opinion, is worth the fight, wait and commitment. National health care is something many nations provide to their citizens, and I do believe our country should move in that direction. I think medical care is a right, not a privilege. A citizen of the United States of America should not be living in fear that if he or she becomes sick or injured, that they may have to make that decision on whether to seek medical assistance or bite the bullet and wait it out. Many times waiting it out is a viable option. Other times it’s a difference between life and death. I wouldn’t want money to ever get in the way of that decision. Therefore, Medical coverage should be made available to all, and we are moving in the right direction.