Health Care In The United States

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Health care programs are a universal topic for discussion in the United States and other countries of the world. Every country implements their own health care system that they see fit. The United States is the leading economic power of the world, but when it comes to health care we are ranked 37th. In the United States health care is more expensive than in any other country in the world and roughly 47 million people are left without coverage. While no country has been able to work out a perfect system, there are several countries that will be discussed that the United States could look to for tips to improve the current health care policies. There are many countries that are ranked higher than the US for health care. Some of the most notable …show more content…

The best component of the Affordable Care Act is that it gave people a chance to buy their own insurance plan. People who weren’t covered by work could go online and sign up for an insurance policy that fit their budget. What makes this so great is that while people could choose how much they wanted to pay, most people are eligible for a tax credit that would help cover some of the cost of their premiums. Also, no one could be turned away even if they are sick and elderly. Those who are below or close to the poverty line benefit from this since they can choose their own plan, while insurance companies may not benefit because they have to offer everyone coverage and pay more in taxes for participating in this system. One of the worse components of this act is that expanding Medicaid is optional. The Supreme Court ruled that the states had the options to join in the expanding of Medicaid. For those that did, the federal government would cover the cost. For those that don’t, the low income people will be left without options (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2013). The state governments benefit from a state opting out because that’s less they have to put out in coverage. States must weigh the burden of higher state Medicaid expenditures under expansion against the benefit of maximizing externally financed health benefits for their citizens (Blahous, 2013). The poor suffer drastically and are left without affordable

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