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The role of U.S. healthcare
What are the impacts on healthcare delivery in the United States
The role of U.S. healthcare
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I have personally been affected by the mess that America calls a health system. In the same year, I had severe food poisoning and my stomach and intestines swelled. I had to be hospitalized for a day each, and was then sent home, even though I was still very ill. The reason? My family has no health coverage. Both my parents are very hard workers and own their own business. One would think that my household could afford health coverage, but we can't, despite the many hours a week and hard labor. So, without coverage, there are heavy bills to pay. My mom and I have calculated that my parents will be paying hospital bills long after I graduate from college. Because of two days in the hospital, six bags of saline, and a bagel from the hospital cafeteria. Insurance companies are too thorough and too picky with their selection process. The insurance companies choose people who are healthy, out of risk of serious illness, and are likely to pay. If someone starts out healthy, then becomes ill, then the insurance companies may deny some coverage. For example, Marcelas Owens, an eleven year old from Seattle, had his mother die due to lack of insurance. His mother died at the young age of 27 from pulmonary hypertension. Marcelas Owens then went on to go to the signing of the health bill, where he sat in the very room of Congress and President Barack Obama. Owens said “I don't want any other kids to go what I went through”. (“Faces of...Debate.” Page Two) Another victim of insurance companies, Molly Secours battled uterine cancer and nearly lost her home due to medical bills. She had health insurance, but was told that she was in need of a radical hysterectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. She states, “I was consumed with the f... ... middle of paper ... ...y 2,100 doctors in Maine practice primary care and would qualify for a new payment bonus under the health insurance reform. So, doctors will still be maing money, and plenty of it (Health Insurance...Maine. Page Two). And there wouldn't be a long wait, despite what some media sources claim. For example, a video streaming the internet claiming that Lindsay McCrieth, a resident of Canada, would have died of a brain tumor if she hadn't of came to America to get a MRI (“Single Payer”). But, that video on the internet was made by Stuart Browning, who is infamous for making media against the Government. It was then found that the situation with McCrieth was not true, and that she did immediately get a MRI in Canada. Americans fine it so necessary to believe whatever they see in the media, then that leads to misguided thinking, and which then leads into a snowball effect.
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.
Many people of which do not know, or even understand programs, or funds that can assist them in these situations they are in. People not knowing or cannot afford health care is a huge problem especially considering the fact that many Americans are elderly or suffer from acute disease, disabilities, and even mental disorders. Without proper health care many of these Americans will suffer tremendously and their symptoms may develop even worse without proper medication and help. This cannot be given without affordable health care.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
The facts bear out the conclusion that the way healthcare in this country is distributed is flawed. It causes us to lose money, productivity, and unjustly leaves too many people struggling for what Thomas Jefferson realized was fundamental. Among industrialized countries, America holds the unique position of not having any form of universal health care. This should lead Americans to ask why the health of its citizens is “less equal” than the health of a European.
Our healthcare system has developed into a burden for most people and has terrible consequences for others. It consists of everyone paying for healthcare as a whole, instead of people paying for themselves. This system of healthcare has burdened the people who take care of themselves and have money, but extends the life of people who do not take care of themselves and live in poverty. This is not pleasant for the one’s who decided to go to school and make well over minimum wage. In turn, they are the individuals who end up paying for the people who decided to make bad decisions in their life that put them in the minimum wage position. Clearly, laws regulate the insurance companies but these regulations do not make any sense to many. Balko explains that, “More and m...
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. The Affordable Care Act was established to help eliminate the disparities found in those who are diagnosed with cancer. Although the ACA was set into action about a year ago, its ultimate goal is to improve the health of millions of Americans. However, enrolling millions of American into the right insurance plans is no easy task. It will require a lot of patience and surveillance. In addition, the ACA’s individual mandated penalty for those who opt out of insurance coverage is steep. There should not be a penalty for families or individuals who do not want to be covered by the insurance. It will be interesting to see how the ACA will impact the United States health care system in the future.
Health insurance is currently an important issue in the United States. Everyday more and more Americans become uninsured due to job loss and an increase in premiums. These Americans add to the ever growing population of 45.7 million people who are currently uninsured (Bialik). Moreover only 27% of those uninsured are under the age of 65 (NCHC). This is staggering considering most of those who are uninsured have, or soon will, suffer from some sort of illness or injury. As a result they will not be able to afford proper treatment. Insurance premiums can range in cost from fifty dollars per month, to fifteen hundred dollars per month (Kreidler). An individual’s premium is determined by factors they choose as well as other factors looked at by their provider. The cost of health insurance in America varies depending on the controllable factors, like particular insurance policies, and uncontrollable factors, like age.
health care system for years, leaving many citizens wondering: why would our country do this to us?
It is hard to imagine life without health insurance. If you have any type of medical problem that requires attention, and you have appropriate health care insurance, you can be cared for in the finest of private hospitals. You can get great treatment and your ailments, depending on the severity, can be treated as soon as possible. Doctors, physicians and surgeons are willing to put out a big effort if they know that they are dealing with patients who are insured and have the money to go under extensive medical treatment. But imagine life without such luxuries. For example, what happens if a relative requires much needed surgery, but does not have health insurance to cover the procedure? What happens if a lack of medical insurance prevents you or your family from seeing a doctor, which could result in health problems that had not been identified but could have been treated before they became life threatening? These scenarios may seem far-fetched, but these types of situations happen to people who lack health coverage everyday. There is a true story about a patient who was insured and diagnosed with treatable cervical cancer. Unfortunately, she lost her job and with it her insurance. She was then unable to see her private doctor, and was turned away from other hospitals because ?cancer treatment is not considered an emergency in a patient who can?t pay? (?Help for D.C.?s Uninsured?). The woman later died at her home without ever being treated. This example raises the question, since when are people with less money less deserving of health care or appropriate treatment?
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.
Nearly every American can agree that our current health care system needs reforms. Primarily do to the fact that 45.7 million Americans are without health insurance. That's approximately 16 percent of Americans who sometimes have to do without healthcare, or face crucial financial responsibility. The main issues are admission to healthcare, and the affordability of health care. Before 1920, doctors didn't know enough about diseases to really provide useful care to sick people. Therefore the...
Because of this “approximately twenty to forty-five thousand people die in the United States each year due to a lack of health insurance.” (Obamacare) Not only that but “about fifty-three million Americans have admitted, with or without insurance, they cannot afford to see a doctor.” (LUHBY)
I chose the movie “Sicko,” and while watching this movie I saw the different countries and how they went about the healthcare system. Starting with the United States, in order to receive healthcare you’re supposed to have health insurance which some can afford and others can’t. In the beginning of the movie different people went about the different reasons why they were denied health insurance and the different effects that it had on their life. For example, a man whose 79 years by the name of Frank Cardeal is insured by Medicare but it doesn’t cover all of the medication that he and his wife need. He works as a custodian and a business which covers his medication. I feel as though he should be laid back somewhere, but instead he’s stuck working
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 meaning of quality is “the right care for the right person at the right time”. Quality can be well-defined as the value, efficiency, consistency, and outcome of the care being provided. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) stated “an rise in health care spending from $2.34 trillion in 2008 to $ 2.47 trillion in 2009, the largest one year increase since 1960” (Pickert, 2010). “The action to improve the American health care delivery system as a whole, in all of its quality dimensions such as efficiency, effectiveness, equitability, timeliness, patient-centeredness, and safety for all Americans” (IOM, 2011). This paper aims to find out the relationship between cost and quality relating to health care.