Title: Emphasizing Universal Healthcare: Advancing Toward Health Equity Healthcare is an essential human right; however, countless Americans still find themselves without access to affordable medical services, exposing them to financial strain and poor health outcomes. The United States, often viewed as a leader in progress and innovation, grapples with a severe issue of healthcare inequality. This paper advocates for the necessity of universal healthcare to tackle this critical challenge, ensuring equitable access to medical services, diminishing health disparities, and ultimately enhancing public health outcomes. The absence of universal healthcare in the United States is a deep-seated issue rooted in historical, policy, and systemic factors. …show more content…
has depended on a primarily employer-based healthcare system, leaving many individuals without coverage, particularly those who are unemployed, self-employed, or employed in low-wage jobs without benefits. Moreover, the fragmented nature of the healthcare system, characterized by multiple payers, complex billing procedures, and diverse coverage options, has led to administrative inefficiencies and disparities in healthcare access. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010, marked a significant move toward expanding healthcare coverage in the United States. The ACA sought to enhance access to affordable health insurance through measures such as Medicaid expansion, the creation of health insurance marketplaces, and rules preventing insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. While the ACA significantly lowered the uninsured rate and extended coverage to millions of Americans, substantial coverage gaps persist, especially in states that opted out of Medicaid expansion. Despite advancements under the ACA, millions of Americans still encounter obstacles in accessing affordable healthcare, underscoring the demand for comprehensive …show more content…
Besides the uninsured, many Americans are underinsured, possessing health insurance that nonetheless leaves them facing high out-of-pocket expenses and limited access to services. High deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance often deter individuals from seeking necessary medical care, leading to adverse health outcomes and diminished quality of life. Moreover, the current healthcare system perpetuates disparities in access to care based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geography, and other social determinants of health. Communities of color, including Black, Indigenous, and Latinx populations, are especially affected by healthcare access barriers, resulting in higher rates of chronic diseases, lower life expectancy, and poorer health outcomes compared to their white peers. Inadequate access to healthcare also deepens health disparities related to gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and other marginalized identities. LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and other underserved groups often encounter discrimination, stigma, and obstacles to accessing affirming and culturally competent care, further exacerbating existing health
Due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law on March 23rd, 2010; health care in the US is presently in a state of much needed transition. As of 2008, 46 Million residents (15% of the population) were uninsured and 60% of residents had coverage from private insurers. 55% of those covered by private insurers received it through their employer and 5% paid for it directly. Federal programs covered 24% of Americans; 13% under Medicare and10% under Medicaid. (Squires, 2010)
On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.
According to editorial one, universal health care is a right that every American should be able to obtain. The author provides the scenario that insurance companies reject people with preexisting conditions and that people typically wait to receive health care until it's too much of a problem due to the extreme costs. Both of these scenarios are common among Americans so the author uses those situations to appeal to the readers' emotions. Editorial one also includes logical evidence that America could follow Canada's and Europe's universal health care systems because both of those nations are excelling in it.
The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” was designed to assure that all Americans regardless of health status have access to affordable health insurance. The Affordable Car Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. The primary goal of this act was to decrease barriers for obtaining health care coverage and allow Americans to access needed health care services (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). After the legislation is fully implemented in 2014, all Americans will be required to have health insurance through their employer, a public program such as Medicaid and/or Medicare or by purchasing insurance through the health insurance marketplace exchange (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). I will identify three parts of The Affordable Care Act that I believe are important. First, I will talk about the requirement that insurance companies are no longer able to deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Secondly, I will explain why physician payments are being shifted to value over volume. Lastly, I will discuss Medicaid expansion and why some states are not expanding at all.
Healthcare professionals want only to provide the best care and comfort for their patients. In today’s world, advances in healthcare and medicine have made their task of doing so much easier, allowing previously lethal diseases to be diagnosed and treated with proficiency and speed. A majority of people in the United States have health insurance and enjoy the luxury of convenient, easy to access health care services, with annual checkups, preventative care, and their own personal doctor ready to diagnose and provide treatment for even the most trivial of symptoms. Many of these people could not imagine living a day without the assurance that, when needed, medical care would not be available to themselves and their loved ones. However, millions of American citizens currently live under these unimaginable conditions, going day to day without the security of frequent checkups, prescription medicine, or preventative medicines that could prevent future complications in their health. Now with the rising unemployment rates due to the current global recession, even more Americans are becoming uninsured, and the flaws in the United States’ current healthcare system are being exposed. In order to amend these flaws, some are looking to make small changes to fix the current healthcare system, while others look to make sweeping changes and remodel the system completely, favoring a more socialized, universal type of healthcare system. Although it is certain that change is needed, universal healthcare is not the miracle cure that will solve the systems current ailments. Universal healthcare should not be allowed to take form in America as it is a menace to the capitalist principle of a free market, threatens to put a stranglehold on for-...
In recent years, the number of Americans who are uninsured has reached over 45 million citizens, with millions more who only have the very basic of insurance, effectively under insured. With the growing budget cuts to medicaid and the decreasing amount of employers cutting back on their health insurance options, more and more americans are put into positions with poor health care or no access to it at all. At the heart of the issue stems two roots, one concerning the morality of universal health care and the other concerning the economic effects. Many believe that health care reform at a national level is impossible or impractical, and so for too long now our citizens have stood by as our flawed health-care system has transformed into an unfixable mess. The good that universal healthcare would bring to our nation far outweighs the bad, however, so, sooner rather than later, it is important for us to strive towards a society where all people have access to healthcare.
Many changes in health care insurance have been made to increase the amount of individuals with health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010 in efforts to help solve some of the biggest issues that Americans faced with health care and its availability (The White House, 2016). As of today, more than 9 out of 10 Americans have health insurance (The White House, 2016). This means that 20 million people have gained health insurance since the ACA was enacted (The White House, 2016).
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
The ACA expanded Medicare/ Medicaid, strengthened employer based care, and included an individual mandate. Before the ACA there were 32 million people uninsured and “approximately half, or 16 million, will gain coverage through an expansion of Medicaid” (Barr, 2011, p. 292). To improve the cost of care the ACA required employers with more the 50 employees to offer plans and individuals would have to purchase plans from the government. “ACA does not address directly the issue of disparities in access of care based on a patient’s race or ethnicity, it does impose on providers the responsibility for collecting data on the race or ethnicity, primary language, disability status, and similar demographic characteristics of patients cared for” (Barr, 2011, p. 293). The ACA strives to give health coverage to all but the power still lies in the private sector.
The US health system has both considerable strengths and notable weaknesses. With a large and well-trained health workforce, access to a wide range of high-quality medical specialists as well as secondary and tertiary institutions, patient outcomes are among the best in the world. But the US also suffers from incomplete coverage of its population, and health expenditure levels per person far exceed all other countries. Poor measures on many objective and subjective indicators of quality and outcomes plague the US health care system. In addition, an unequal distribution of resources across the country and among different population groups results in poor access to care for many citizens. Efforts to provide comprehensive, national health insurance in the United States go back to the Great Depression, and nearly every president since Harry S. Truman has proposed some form of national health insurance.
A health care system that provides free health care services to its entire citizen can be termed as universal health care. This is a situation where all citizens are protected from financial costs in health care. It is recognized around the globe as it provides a specific package of benefits to all citizens in the entire nation. For instance, free health care can result to improved health outcomes. In addition, it provides financial risk protection and an improved access to health services. There is an increasing debate on how citizen should be provided with free medical services. Although United State does not permit free health care services it should have free health care for all citizens. This is due to the fact that healthcare is the largest industry in United State. Due to the fact that United State is a rich country, it should have a healthcare system that provides free services such as treatment for its entire citizen. This will play a significant role, as it will stop medical bankruptcies in...
Universal health care is an on going debate that we still cannot decide whether or not to be for or against. In the article for universal healthcare states that we should use it because it is a constitutional right because citizens are granted life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. the argument against universal healthcare states that it can increase our countries debt. In conclusion if we were to have universal healthcare it could either help our country immensely or not help at all.
The implementation of a universal health care system in the United States is an important challenge that needs to be overcome. There are numerous amount of editorial that argue on both sides of the debate. Some people argue that a universal health care system would bring costs down and increase access to care while others argue that a universal health care system would be too expensive and reduce the quality of care. The correct answer requires intensive understanding and economics to overcome, the arguments must be examined for a proper answer.
The need for improved and less expensive healthcare in the United States has attracted people to form a group advocating for universal healthcare. Some of the major points of the organization are to enhance healthcare accessibility, make healthcare more affordable through the creation of new products and services, integrate technology in healthcare delivery for easier navigation, and also improve healthcare standards for the entire American population. Despite the expected positive implications of having a universal healthcare program in the country, some people are not aware of its presence. In this regard, it is important to discuss the need for universal healthcare in the United States and also its negative aspects; this will provide sufficient