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Health care system in the USA
Critique of the american healthcare system
Strength and weakness of our healthcare system
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With the ongoing changes to our health care system prompted by the Affordable Care Act, the United States of America faces many challenges in regards to the delivery of health care in our country. One of the most foundational issues affecting our country in this day and age is the cost of health care leading to a lack of access to our citizens. A recent report updated in 2014 by the Commonwealth Fund shows that among 11 countries surveyed, the United States has the highest cost associated with healthcare, measured by total health related expenditures as a percent of the GDP; yet our healthcare system ranks last in most dimensions of performance, which include access, quality, efficiency, and equity. This presents the notion that a more expensive health care system does not correlate with a one of higher quality. It was shown that a greater percentage of people in the United States go without needed care due to associated costs than in any other surveyed nation. Similarly, Americans were the most likely to say they had issues with health care access as a result of the cost. Over one third of those surveyed stated they did not get recommended care, fill a prescription, or pursue medical treatment when they had a health problems due to costs. …show more content…
also acknowledge the diffi¬culty patients have paying for care, underscoring affordability as a foundational issue affecting the health system. Not only do patients face finan¬cial burdens associated with the price of healthcare, they also lack immediate access to primary care when medical attention is needed. In a twist of irony, Americans seem to have more rapid access to specialized health care services. Likewise, a high percentage of American adults with health problems are more likely to visit the emer¬gency department conditions that could have been treated by a primary physician, had they had access to
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.
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.
Healthcare has been a topic of discussion with the majority of the country. Issues with insurance coverage, rising costs, limited options to gain coverage, and the quality of healthcare have become concerns for law makers, healthcare providers and the general public. Some of those concerns were alleviated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, but new concerns have developed with problems that have occurred in the implementation of the new law. The main concerns of the country are if the Affordable Care Act will be able to overcome the issues that plagued the old healthcare system, the cost of the program, and how will the new law affect the quality of the health delivery system.
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
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 ...
Health care is one of the most debated issues in the United States today and it 's necessary to understand the basics of this problem. Approximately 50 million people living in the United
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.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
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.
Reforming the health care delivery system to progress the quality and value of care is indispensable to addressing the ever-increasing costs, poor quality, and increasing numbers of Americans without health insurance coverage. What is more, reforms should improve access to the right care at the right time in the right setting. They should keep people healthy and prevent common, preventable impediments of illnesses to the greatest extent possible. Thoughtfully assembled reforms would support greater access to health-improving care, in contrast to the current system, which encourages more tests, procedures, and treatments that are either
As a first world nation, many would expect the United States to possess one of the best, if not the best healthcare system in the world. Sadly, they would be mistaken because even though the US spends the most on healthcare worldwide, in 2013, the World Health Organization(WHO), ranked the U.S. healthcare system at a dizzying 37th place (Pittman, 2012). According to the Commonwealth fund, 18% of our Gross Domestic Product(GDP) is spent on healthcare, this works out to be $2.9 trillion annually, $9,200 per person and for persons 65 and older this number doubles to $18,424 per person. In 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid estimate that the U.S will send an estimated $4.6 trillion. McLaughlin 2011 stated that:
In the U.S. 6.2% of people fail to obtain needed medical care due to cost ("Centers for disease control and prevention"). The U.S. has a population of 317 million citizens. This means that almost 20 million individuals in the U.S. cannot afford access to healthcare. This paper is going to focus on how the U.S. has an expensive access to healthcare which makes it very difficult for many U.S. citizens to afford medical treatment. Difficult access to healthcare is happening all over the United States. The people getting involved are many middle to low class U.S. Citizens including little children. This topic is important because access to health services means the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes. Access to healthcare can affect: overall physical, social, and mental health status, prevention of disease and disability, detection and treatment of health conditions, quality of life, preventable death and life expectancy ("Healthy people"). Expensive access to healthcare can make it more difficult even for you to afford any of these medical treatments! This paper is going to concentrate primarily on this question: what effect has expensive access to healthcare had on U.S. citizens?
According to Roy, 2013 the issues of providing the affordable care act will unite both the supporters and offenders of the public policy, but in this current situation where the input costs are rising, it will become impossible for government in managing the public policy related to affordable health care. In order to provide affordable health care, majority of the US government has tried out different policies time to time, but unable to get success in realizing the actual policy goals. By providing the affordable health care to majority of the people who requires more amount as controlling the input cost is not possible (AAMC, 2013). Lack of doctors is one of the primary issue in providing high quality health care to the citizens especially those who are financially poor. The Supreme Court of the country passed an Act related to Health insurance as all should have Health Insurance to all the country people by the year 2014, but the at the same time government is concerned about constitutionality of these act (NYTimes, 2013).
The health care system in the United States is considered the most expensive system in the world although it underachieves in different areas, such as effective care, lack of access due to cost-related issues, and efficiency. However, it has the most sophisticated healthcare system in the world, investing heavily in research and technology. Currently, the United States spends 17.1% on health care as a percentage of GDP, while other developed countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and France spend 9.1%, 10.9%, and 11.7%, respectively (The World Bank, 2015). The United States has relatively higher costs mainly due to the fragmented health care system, not being a single payor but a multiple chain of participants. Due to this, a wide number of costs are higher than other countries such as administrative costs, average prescription costs, hospital stays and due to the broken system, the lack of preventative care creates the problem with chronic diseases, which are generally more costly.
In order to comprehend the problem entirely, first we must observe the effects that healthcare costs have on the economy and American families. The soaring cost and perpetual necessity for health care have led to dramatic increases in debt for a large number of Americans, as well as the nation as a whole. While performing astonishing acts of salvation every day, modern medicine is as expensive as one may assume such a miracle may cost. For example, the average cost of a triple bypass surgery, such as my grandfathers, cost over $200,000 and is mainly covered through insurance. Also, patients who requir...