It is amazing how one person’s hour long speech can change so many American views over our health care system. In 2008, Obama states that an average of 700,000 jobs were being lost per month (Obama). That means almost a million Americans were without a job! Obama later states in his speech that we are “the only advanced democracy on Earth that allows such hardship for millions of its people” (Obama). That statement is very true especially when it comes to health care issues. If Obama’s predicted outcome of his health care reform carries through, then millions of Americans will be greatly benefited. Obama gives an example in his speech stating “one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point” (Obama). That is crazy! That must be really bad when Americans go so broke due to the economy and risk not having any type of health care protection. In fact a little too risky. Everyone needs health protection because no one can predict when exactly they will need it. No one knows when someone will rear end them and send them into a coma that without he...
By doing well in school, going to college, and receiving a high paying job it comes with good healthcare coverage. Without healthcare, hospitals are less likely to assist people. The reason is because of their uncertainty that the uninsured will be able to afford to pay for the service on time or even at all. Obama in his speech says, “This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don 't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.” Obama is saying that because of political influences on hospitals those who do not have insurance are forced to wait until there is a chance they might be treated. The reason that they are uninsured is because they cannot afford it. Since insurance is controlled by companies who will not provide fair rates to those who have medical conditions or do not have a job. Robert Pear a writer for The New York Times says, “From 2013 to 2014, the bureau said, the overall rate of insurance coverage increased for all racial groups and for Hispanics, who may be of any race. The increases were comparable for blacks, Asians and Hispanics (just over 4 percentage points) and lower for non-Hispanic whites (about 2 percentage points).” Even though this is 6 years after the speech by Obama it still shows that healthcare is still a problem in America, but
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
There is an ongoing debate on the topic of how to fix the health care system in America. Some believe that there should be a Single Payer system that ensures all health care costs are covered by the government, and the people that want a Public Option system believe that there should be no government interference with paying for individual’s health care costs. In 1993, President Bill Clinton introduced the Health Security Act. Its goal was to provide universal health care for America. There was a lot of controversy throughout the nation whether this Act was going in the right direction, and in 1994, the Act died. Since then there have been multiple other attempts to fix the health care situation, but those attempts have not succeeded. The Affordable Care Act was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. President Obama signed it into law on March 23 (Obamacare Facts). This indeed was a step forward to end the debate about health care, and began to establish the middle ground for people in America. In order for America to stay on track to rebuild the health care system, we need to keep going in the same direction and expand our horizons by keeping and adding on to the Affordable Care Act so every citizen is content.
The United States spends vast amounts on its healthcare, while falling short of achieving superiority over other developed nations. One cannot overlook that the deepening recession has left many without jobs and therefore lacking health insurance. According to Fairhall and Steadman, (2009), even though the recession is hard on all, it is worse on the uninsured due to health care and insurance cost rising faster than incomes. Nevertheless, even those with jobs are lacking in health insurance due to employers, who provide insurance, are increasingly dropping their sponsored insurance. Many find that purchasing a health policy or paying for medical care out-of-pocket is cost prohibitive. “Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by 3.6 million,” (Fairhall & Steadman, 2009). In 2009 it was stated that approximately 46 million Americans were uninsured, however not all of that number is due to the inability to afford coverage. According to a 2009 story written by Christopher Weaver of Kaiser Health News, 43% of that number should be classified as “voluntarily” uninsured. This subset of uninsured Americans consist of nearly half being young and healthy; therefo...
Health insurance comes as second nature to many of us. We grab that blue and white card and put it in our wallet and forget about it until we are sick or injured. When this happens, there it is, cushioning our fall like the extra padding it provided to cushion our wallets. This is not the case with everyone, however. Many Americans have no cushion to fall back on, no blue and white card to show the emergency room when they have an unexpected health concern. No HMO with a convenient co-pay amount when their son or daughter develops an ear infection.
The reason Obama ran for presidency at that moment in history was because, “I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.” Barack Obama feels that if we come together as one than we can solve problems of today’s society such as a failing economy and a chronic health care crisis. The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) is Obama’s solution to the chronic health care crisis, Obama Care’s goal is to give more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance and to reduce the growth in U.S. health care spending. Veteran’s health care program counts as Minimum Essential Coverage under Obama Care so veterans don’t need to get other coverage and are protected from any fee. Obama care is successful in his task to make a more just, more caring, and more prosperous America by passing the Affordable Care
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
Before Obamacare was passed, millions of Americans were uninsured, suffered and died prematurely each year since lack of health insurance. Insurance companies could deny any one for pre-existing illnesses or drop them when they get sick, or stop treating them when they touched annual or life-time perimeters. Over 60% of bankruptcies were associated to medical expenses, several of these people had insurance. Insurance companies had no limits on raising premiums. Preventative measures and wellness visits were not covered adequately (Mowrey, 2013).
Until Obama-care, The United States was one of the only developed nations that did not provide some sort of health care for its citizens. To most other nations that do provide healthcare, it is because it is considered a human right that all people should be entitled to. That hasn’t been the case in America, however, where only those who could afford it could have healthcare plans. Those who stand to gain the most from universal healthcare are the already mentioned 45 million americans who currently don’t have any form of healthcare. For many of these individuals, there are many obstacles that prevent them from gaining healthcare. 80% of the 45 million are working class citizens, but either their employer doesn’t offer insurance, or they do but the individual can n...
In the 2012 Presidential Debates over the Affordable Care Act President Barack Obama said “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” But this, in fact, is not the case. Barack Obama mislead voters into believing they could keep their health insurance if you were among the 85% already happily insured. His message was, “ObamaCare will affect the other people, not you” (Troy). ...
41 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2001. In 2004, the number rose to 45 million. And in 2005, 47 million people were living without health care. On the other hand, 84% of Americans had health care in 2005 according to a census. So what is wrong with America's health care?
More than half of the American population is convinced that the Health Care Reform is necessary and it must be carried out by the government. Hence, the government plays a huge role in the health care transformation as it provides the nation with the health care plans and outlines other possibilities for medical coverage like the health insurance exchange. President Obama suggests his own plan of stability and security for all Americans. This plan is to provide more security and stability for those who have health insurance as well as those who don’t. Obama believes that it will lower the cost of health care for American families, business and government (The Obama Plan: Stability & Security For All Americans). In general, 62 percent of the population supports the idea of the go...
Half of the 50 million people in the U.S are currently uninsured. The new healthcare laws were intended to expand health insurance coverage, but one trade association warned that it will end of driving 60 million manufacturing workers out of coverage supplied by their employers over the next decade unless it was fixed before that occurs.(Newton-Small). Companies offered health coverage to their employers but certain laws prevented them from giving some benefits, forcing them into something that is called a one sized fit's all system. Basically like a waiting list. The problem with the one sized fit all system is that healthcare is just simply too large and complexed to manage at a government level. This is a system the government created that they cannot fix. The charge of Obama care would dump 60 million workers into the laws state and federal insurance exchanges which lead to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With the economy down, the ACA is far from being aff...
“47 million U.S. residents have no health insurance, and the numbers keep growing. America’s workers struggle to pay higher premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Working families are experiencing increases in the costs of health insurance, more out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits and skyrocketing prices for prescriptions, forcing many to delay getting needed medical care or words“(2012). The video Sick Around America introduced many issues with the United States health care system. The biggest problems in the United States is medical underwriting, if you lose your job that provides health insurance, you lose the health insurance.
With the United Nations listing health care as natural born right and the escalating cost of health care America has reached a debatable crisis. Even if you do have insurance it's a finical strain on most families.