Even though U.S. has one of the most developed health care systems, sometimes it gets really frustrating and complex. The goal of our modern health care is to provide proper care for the patients at all the level. Many people believe that U.S needs a national health care system, which is affordable for everybody from all the classes. Unfortunately, the lower class is the one that suffers from the lack of proper health care, not the upper or middle classes. Even though, the lower class has the advantage of having the Medicare, it is argued that it doesn’t cover the needed basic services. There are many people that are still un-insured, and many are losing their insurance by losing their jobs. Moreover, part time workers or the temporary ones are not entitled to the benefits of the company. In addition, our health care system includes many unnecessary and overuse of care, which counts for most of the health care cost. …show more content…
Senaor Leahy came up with a new term called “Cost Shifting”. Cost shifting simply implies to those who cannot afford to pay for their services; in that case the fee would be passed on those can pay. With increasing the number of uninsured people, the cost of premium would go higher. The cost shift caused the Vermont families to pay an additional $500 in premiums in 2009. In return, the senator and his team have been trying to reduce the number of uninsured individuals in Vermont, and reduce the health care coast as well. (Patrick Leahy official
Have you ever went without health insurance between jobs, or while working part time or because you just couldn?t afford it? No having health insurance is a big risk in a time where medical costs are sky high, Prescription drug prices are outrageous and when your paying your family doctor $50 for a office visit. Fifty dollars represents a full 8 hours of work for many Americans.
There are so many uninsured citizens and immigrants in USA and many people who delay care in fear of medical bills. It is shameful that americans likes to boast that they have the highest lifestyle in the world, yet in this twenty-first century, we are the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee necessary healthcare to all of its citizens. Therefore, to resolve this crisis in country like USA where everybody believes; Everyone is born equal, should have access to affordable health care system because if we don’t have health insurance many people will not have health insurance and the premiums will increase dramatically for the insured people.
Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...
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...
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-...
However, our system is based on money. The more money you have to spend, the better medical services you will receive. ?According to the Bureau of Labor education at the university of main (2003), America spends more money oh health care than any other nation, "$4,178 per capita on health care in 1998?, compared to the average of $1,783. (BLE., 2003, p.23). Still an estimated "42.5 million Americans are living without health insurance", which prevents them from receiving medical treatment. (Climan, Scharff, 2003, p.33). The numbers of un-insured Americans continue to rise. Tim Middleton (2002) states, ?insurance premiums grow at a rate greater than wages,? when you have a low-income job. (¶ 9). With our current economy recession, taxes are rising and small business employers are unable to purchase health plans for their employees. Employees are realizing that they are unable to gain insurance from their jobs and beginning to speak out about the high price of health 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.
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.
Most people rely on their employers to provide them with health insurance, but with many health care is not available through the employers. Many small businesses can simply not afford the high cost of health care, or it may be available, but the employee needs to pay the entire premiums. A lot of employers are utilizing part time employees, the part time employees are usually not qualified for benefits, like health insurance. This is very unfortunate for these part timer’s not only because they will not get benefits such as health insurance, but also they probably have a slim chance of going full time because of the health insurance dilemma. Business owner’s need to assess what is good for them financially, and having plenty of part time employees who do not require insurance is probably the most cost effective method to keep the Business up and running.
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...
The steady rise of healthcare costs and the ever increasing cost of health insurance premiums are making it harder and harder for employers to pay healthcare premiums for their employees. In the past, it was almost a given that employers picked up the tab for health insurance coverage. The health coverage was usually exceptional with little or no money paid out of pocket by the individual for the insurance premiums. Those appear to be the “good old days”, with fewer and fewer employers shelling out money for health insurance premiums and demanding a larger percentage to be paid by the employee. Other employers are simply unable to financially provide healthcare coverage for their employees and have stopped all together.
Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.
The United States health care system has a unique way of delivering health care to its citizens. Unlike other countries, that supply a universal access system, the United states has a system that is developed through market forces and designed to take care of the needs of a certain population. With the United States being highly populated, the health care system does not support every person living in the US by having access to health care that is granted to those is various countries. The design and organization of the United States health care system was put into subsystems that would allow citizens to be put in a category as to which health care plan is best for them.