Despite few things being more important to people than their or a loved one's health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently ranked the United States of America 24th in analysis of healthy longevity, 18th in infant mortality and 43rd in average life expectancy amongst nations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - the United States of America is not the greatest country in the world (“GHO”). Health care policy in the United States differs from most other democracies in one important way: the role the government plays. Opposite to many other democracies around the world, United States health care is privately ran thus mirroring its’ politics: vast, complex and controversial. A paradox exists within America’s current health care system; we spend a far larger share of our income on health than any other industrialized country; yet, we are far from having the healthiest population. The United States must follow the example set by our worldly counterparts and incorporate health care into our government’s agenda rather than allowing it to be managed by private incorporations whose only goal is profit. America is prized for its capitalistic free market economy providing incentives to be rich and encouraging innovation, however; maximizing one’s health benefits at someone else’s expense is not advantageous to a health care system. Capitalism produces inequality, private ownership and exploitation …show more content…
In fact, Article 32 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic assures: The Republic safeguards health as a fundamental right of the individual and as a collective interest, and guarantees free medical care to the indigent. No one may be obliged to undergo any health treatment except under the provisions of the law. The law may not under any circumstances violate the limits imposed by respect for the human person. (The Constitution of Italian
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.
“Homelessness can be the cause as well as the result of poor health” (Wise, Emily, Debrody, Corey &ump; Paniucki, Heather, 1999, p.445). This is a reoccurring theme that has existed within the homeless population for decades. While programs to help reduce this constant circle are being put in place all over the country to provide medical services for the homeless to be able to go to, many are still finding that health care needs for individuals as well as homeless communities are not being met. Many studies have been completed that study both the opinion on healthcare by those who have access to sufficient health care and homeless people’s perceptions on health care administration. While many companies are working to provide more personal health care systems, it appears that the larger problem is with a lack of people know about the health care systems that are in place to help them. Companies are trying to advertise more often to inform homeless people that there is health care out there for them.
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.
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 ...
Paul Krugman, the author of “The Conscience of a Liberal,” argues that the reform needed for the health care system is a challenging and daunting task but needs to be addressed and improved. Krugman debates the morals and economics of the current system and exploits the inequalities the failing system. Similarly, T.R. Reid, the author of “The Healing of America, “argues that a possible way of reforming the problematic health care system is to have a cooperation between the insurance companies and the government in which the government regulates health care and provides insurance to all. On the other hand, Kevin C. Fleming, the author of “High-Priced Pain: What to Expect from a Single-Payer Health Care System,” argues that the single-payer health
There are several issues concerning the uninsured and underinsured patient population in America. There are many areas of concern the congressional efforts to increase the availability of health insurance, the public image of the insurance industry illustrated by the movie "John Q", the lack of good management tools, and creating health insurance coverage for all low income Americans. Since the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 43 million from 37 million in the flourishing 1990s and could shoot up even more severely if the economy continues to decrease and health care premiums keep increasing (Insurance No Simple Fix, 2001).
An issue that is widely discussed and debated concerning the United States’ economy is our health care system. The health care system in the United States is not public, meaning that the states does not offer free or affordable health care service. In Canada, France and Great Britain, for example, the government funds health care through taxes. The United States, on the other hand, opted for another direction and passed the burden of health care spending on individual consumers as well as employers and insurers. In July 2006, the issue was transparency: should the American people know the price of the health care service they use and the results doctors and hospitals achieve? The Wall Street Journal article revealed that “U.S. hospitals, most of them nonprofit, charged un-insured patients prices that vastly exceeded those they charged their insured patients. Driving their un-insured patients into bankruptcy." (p. B1) The most expensive health care system in the world is that of America. I will talk about the health insurance in U.S., the health care in other countries, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, and my solution to this problem.
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.
Health reform and health policy has taken over in the United States in recent years. Medicaid is one of the top policies being implemented throughout our nation today. To understand how Medicaid and federalism cross paths with each other one must understand the basic definitions and concepts each one brings. Federalism is “system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Generally, an overarching national government governs issues that affect the entire country, and smaller subdivisions govern issues of local concern.” In short, federalism is a government system that has an overseeing central government over state government. While, “Medicaid is a health insurance program for low-income individuals and families who cannot afford health care costs. Medicaid serves low-income parents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.” Medicaid is a test based welfare program for United States Citizens. Now the question is how does Medicaid intersect with federalism? These two intersect because Medicaid is a need-based program that is funded by the federal government and the state government and administered at the state level. The issue with Medicaid is that if it expands then a crowding-out effect may occur. Meaning, that the more the government spends on Medicaid then less they would be able to spend on other programs such as: education, transportation, or other state priorities. Medicaid is supposed to provide access to health insurance for approximately half of our nations uninsured citizens. Without Medicaid a vast amount of low-income citizens will go without having a healthcare insurance plan.
Living in a capitalist society, the richest Americans enjoy larger homes, nicer cars, better education and even health care. Even if we lived in a capitalist society where everyone had access to the same basic healthcare program, the rich would still be able to afford better care. The wealthy are able to pay more in co-payments, prescription costs, and the ability to go outside of the healthcare system in this country to seek help. When you have the disposable resources then the sky is the limit, where the poor have very limited options. They will be confined to their healthcare coverage program and do not have the luxury of seeking additional assistance. “Poor patients often receive less quality care in the hospital, have more barriers to recovery, and experience higher morbidity and mortality than do patients with higher incomes” (Dracup).
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.
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.
...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made.
In terms of access, everyone is required to buy and maintain health care within the first 3 months of living within the country. If one cannot afford insurance, the government subsidizes for low-income families. This is extremely important to make sure everyone has health care. Access again is obtained based on what canton on...