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Flaws in the American healthcare system
Strength and weakness of our healthcare system
Flaws in the American healthcare system
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Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century the United States has always had a realization that there was a problem with obtaining affordable health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in March 2010. This law enables people who were unable to afford healthcare the ability to obtain a healthcare plan at an affordable rate. In 2009 a survey was taken as to the amount of people in the United States that carried health insurance. In table one below you can see over 50 million people in the United States did not have any type of insurance, which is close to 17 percent of the population (see table 1 below). “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “32% Latinos…27% Native Americans…21% African Americans… 18% Asians… lack coverage compared to 13% Whites” (Kimbrough-Melton 355). The U.S. has been trying to close the gap disparity between whites and minorities, which consist of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians on the issue of healthcare. Although many people are against the ACA, the healthcare system has to improve in order to make healthcare affordable for everyone. Even though people might think the ACA will impact them negatively, there are facts that prove otherwise. In this paper, I will start with a brief background on the history of endeavors made by the United States to try to make health care affordable, followed by a Massachusetts law that laid the foundation for the ACA to become established. I will then move on to present how skewed the healthcare system is and how much minorities need this law. Then I will proceed to show how people with already employer-sponsored insurance would not be affected by the ACA. In addi... ... middle of paper ... .... PsycARTICLES. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Kominski, Gerald F. Changing the U.S. Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014. Print. Long, S. K., K. Stockley, and H. Dahlen. "Massachusetts Health Reforms: Uninsurance Remains Low, Self-Reported Health Status Improves As State Prepares To Tackle Costs." Health Affairs 31.2 (2012): 444-51. Web. Rosenbaum, Sara. "THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND PRACTICE." Public Health Reports (1974-) 126.1 (2011): 130-35. JSTOR. Web. 18 May 2014. . Wees, Philip J. Van Der, Alan M. Zaslavsky, and John Z. Ayanian. "Improvements in Health Status after Massachusetts Health Care Reform." Milbank Quarterly 91.4 (2013): 663-89. Web.
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.
The aim of affordable care act (ACA) was to extend health insurance coverage to around 15% of US population who lack it. These include people with no coverage from their employers and don’t have coverage by US health programs like Medicaid (Retrieved from, https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/). To achieve this, the law required all Americans to have health insurance which is a reason of controversy because, it was inappropriate intrusion of government into the massive health care industry and insult to personal liberty. To make health care more affordable subsidies are offered and the cost of the insurance was supposed to be reduced by bringing younger, healthier people to the health insurance system. This could be controversial, if older, sicker people who need the coverage most enter the market but younger group decline to do so. The insurance pool will be unbalanced and the cost of coverage will rise correspondingly.
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)
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
Ghosh, C. (2013). Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Tame the Future. Physician Executive, 39(6), 68-70.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of health care reform implementation in the state of Ohio. Throughout the paper, I will discuss if the health care reform has been effective as well as name some of the positive and negative outcomes. Furthermore, I will discuss how the health care reform is impacting community health. Discussion on the effect of health care reform on the economics in Ohio will conclude this paper.
This in turn means that 17 percent of the total United States population are Hispanics. They are a diverse ethnic group and as the years go on the population of Hispanics keeps growing; they are the fastest growing and by 2050 Hispanics will make up 30 percent of the United States’ population. They’re the highest number of uninsured among the racial/ethnic groups. Statistics show that one out of three Hispanics lack medical insurance coverage. There are more Hispanic children than there are Hispanic adults over the age of 65 and one in four of the total amount of Hispanics are non-citizens. They all continue to face troubles in health coverage and care. Hispanics are more likely to work in low-income positions as well as being more likely to work in agriculture and construction jobs. Most of these jobs do not offer health care coverage, and when they do, Hispanics cannot accept it due to their already low incomes. When it comes to Medicaid, they cover over half of Hispanic children and since more than half of all Hispanics are already said to be in low-income families, this means that they will be able to receive Medicaid just like their children are. The fathers and husbands of Hispanic families are more likely to stop their children from going to the doctor until the very last minute and are more likely themselves to not do anything until they get so sick they must go to the
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...
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
As I began watching Reinventing Healthcare-A Fred Friendly Seminar (2008), I thought to myself, “man, things have changed since 2008.” And as the discussion progressed, I started to become irritated by how little had changed. The issues discussed were far-reaching, and the necessity for urgent change was a repeated theme. And yet, eight years later, health care has made changes, but many of its crucial problems still exist.
The U.S. healthcare system is very complex in structure hence it can be appraised with diverse perspectives. From one viewpoint it is described as the most unparalleled health care system in the world, what with the cutting-edge medical technology, the high quality human resources, and the constantly-modernized facilities that are symbolic of the system. This is in addition to the proliferation of innovations aimed at increasing life expectancy and enhancing the quality of life as well as diagnostic and treatment options. At the other extreme are the fair criticisms of the system as being fragmented, inefficient and costly. What are the problems with the U.S. healthcare system? These are the questions this opinion paper tries to propound.
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
In March 2010, under the Obama administration, the United States enacted major health-care reform. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expands coverage to the majority of uninsured Americans, through: (a) subsidies aimed at lower-income individuals and families to purchase coverage, (b) a mandate that most Americans obtain insurance or face a penalty,
Barton, P.L. (2010). Understanding the U.S. health services system. (4th ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.