It has been said that health care is closely related to our income and poverty. What do income and poverty have to do with health care? Some people become poor due to health care issues, they do not have insurance or health insurance that would cover all of their medical necessities and while trying to cover their medical bills they may deplete all of their funding. Some of us know that the pay on our jobs is not what or where we want it to be but we settle due to the health care package that is offered and we are scared to change jobs cause of not being covered by health insurance in the process. This change in the U.S. is the cause of the increased spending for health care in the U.S. The current state of the healthcare industry in the USA …show more content…
With public health insurance some of the pros are: being able to have an affordable alternative to private insurance (little or no co-pay, low or no monthly premium), having a list of benefits, being able to combine Medicare plans to achieve a more widespread plan and if eligible, get help with the out-of-pocket expenses. Some of the cons are: you have to be eligible to get coverage (can make only a certain amount of money on a monthly basis, your age or immigrant status), and finding doctors that are willing to take the public health insurance (there are physicians that do not like to deal with public health insurance for the payout is lower). With private health insurance, some of the pros are: being able to choose to ensure that we get the quality care that we want, comes with a larger network of doctors and providers vs. the public health insurance and with the option of choosing HMO (health maintenance organization) or PPO (preferred provider organization). PPO allows you to have the freedom of in-network and out-of-network. The cons with private health insurance are: the monthly premiums are higher than public health insurance, you have to deal with deductibles and co-payments (depends on if it is a PCP or specialist could be more expensive), and you …show more content…
I would love to provide health insurance that everyone could afford however, I would target society’s low income and most venerable people (elderly, young children, and the uninsured. Being realistic I would want to get with the physicians to see what we could do in order to make treatment more affordable for those that do not have medical coverage and then work with congress on providing affordable insurance for those with quality physicians on the panel that will take care of the patient as one should be. I would want them to come up with plans that would allow private insurance payers to be able to add their spouse and children to their insurance at a considerably low rate and allow the same benefits that they receive. For those that cannot afford insurance, I would give them the option to have complete insurance with affordable physicians that are not just treating for the money but to make sure that they are getting the best treatment. The main solution is providing doctors that want to treat the patient to get them better vs. using them as test dummies and prolonging the unnecessary care. They need to get to the root of the problem and treat the root. Knowing that I would be on some type of budget to get this done, I would get with congress to see if we could cut cost in other areas. Not leaving
Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...
Health care inequality has long been customary in the United States. Those in lower classes have higher morbidity, higher mortality, higher infant mortality, and higher disability. Millions of low-income families and individuals have gone with out the care they need simply because they cannot afford it. Denial of benefits due to pre-existing conditions, outrageous deductibles, and unreasonable prescription prices are in large part why the low-income class suffers. In addition, not receiving preventative health care, lack of access to exercise equipment and lack of availability to fresh foods all create health problems that become to expensive to fix. Low-income families need to have better, more affordable access to health care, specifically preventative health care, and be more educated about the benefits of health care in order to narrow the gap of inequality. The new Affordable Care Act under the Obama administration expands heath care coverage to many low income families and individuals by lowering the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, although it is not mandatory for individual states to make this expansion for Medicaid coverage.(CITE) It also requires that preventative health care be included in coverage by insurance companies. So with all the benefits the expansion of Medicaid could offer, why would some states choose not to offer it?
HMOs are wellness-focused: they cover almost all preventive exams, their premiums are generally far lower, and your doctor will likely be chosen for you. PPOs, on the other hand, allow you to choose doctors from a PPO network; they do cost more; but on the other hand, they are more focused on treating and covering you when things go wrong, if that makes sense. So if you want to keep costs down and are very healthy, an HMO is your best bet. If you want to be sure your coverage is as high as possible no matter what the contingency, and are willing to pay more for it, a PPO is the right choice for
However, our system is based on money. The more money you have to spend, the better medical services you will receive. ?According to the Bureau of Labor education at the university of main (2003), America spends more money oh health care than any other nation, "$4,178 per capita on health care in 1998?, compared to the average of $1,783. (BLE., 2003, p.23). Still an estimated "42.5 million Americans are living without health insurance", which prevents them from receiving medical treatment. (Climan, Scharff, 2003, p.33). The numbers of un-insured Americans continue to rise. Tim Middleton (2002) states, ?insurance premiums grow at a rate greater than wages,? when you have a low-income job. (¶ 9). With our current economy recession, taxes are rising and small business employers are unable to purchase health plans for their employees. Employees are realizing that they are unable to gain insurance from their jobs and beginning to speak out about the high price of health care.
These situations have many tough decision and opportunity costs to think about. With universal health care specifically, one must consider the pros and cons of potentially adopting a plan of this magnitude. Looking at the positive side, everyone in the U.S. would be guaranteed healthcare. No matter the amount of wealth or immigration status, everyone is covered by the U.S. government under a single payer system. Americans would be entitled to any medical necessity such as emergencies, check-ups, screenings, treatments, rehabs, and medications (“Bernie Sanders on Healthcare”). Now at what cost one may ask? Surely cost would increase right? Actually, medical cost would become overall cheaper for one to pay according to one proposed plan. Given that more Americans will be paying, less will be required to pay per person to cover the expenses (“Bernie Sanders on Healthcare”). Additionally, with more insured Americans, overall public health will improve and lead to more eligible working Americans. In the long term, this plan will help grow and stimulate the economic growth that the United States has been looking for so desperately. To add on to economic growth, this proposed plan will create jobs in the medical field and lift the financial burden off businesses. This means businesses would no longer be required to pay health benefits to their employees. Instead, businesses can focus on investing into their company’s growth and infrastructure (“Health Care for All”). Lastly, by adopting a universal health care system, Americans would no longer have to deal with medical bankruptcies. All expenses and bills would be covered by the U.S. government ("Right to Health Care ProCon.org”). This would leave the American people to focus on paying for other essential expenses and living costs. Now why hasn’t the U.S. adopted a similar plan already? First, one must consider the potential flaws in a
One of many solutions to help families to be able to afford health care is public option. This is an alternative solution to affordable healthcare for all. This works by having a government-run healthcare program which are exclusively available to two groups that lack employer provided health insurance. This program is also available to low income families or individuals. This program is sold just like how private companies sell their insurance in a New Health Insurance Exchange. The system is designed so that private companies are not able to take advantage of customers and opening a wider range of choices to choose from. Keeping costs down and premiums low helps avoid the problem of losing customers.
The healthcare reform debate has been politicized in the United States for many years where there have been deliberate efforts by various stakeholders to ensure that they push for the reforms that are in line with the cost-benefit aspects that they have already envisioned. In this paper, I will attempt to prove that the reforms that have been witnessed in the healthcare in the recent years have not been effective and helpful to the society as a whole. When President Obama came into office, he promised to oversee great reforms in the healthcare which is his government he face much priority in the social policy aspects. The congress managed to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
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.
The first side to the health care system is the Single Payer system. Many European countries, and our neighboring country Canada, have this type of system. This system has every citizen put his or her money into a fund that would be controlled by a federal agency. That agency would then pay for the treatment. Private insurance companies would basically be die off. The difference from this and our current health care system...
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.
Nuala Kenny and Roger Chafe state that “Canadian health care is moving toward privatization without evidence that this will help efficiency, equity, cost containment, or access – highlighting the market's power to change the course of even the most cherished social programs.” Canada has had public health care for a number of years and now is looking at adding privatization again. That would make you conclude that private insurance has more advantages than public insurance.
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).
According to the data given, by CTISP Community Survey 2010 by a Central Texas Region, Health care has a direct correlation to a person’s income or lack thereof. Table 1 displays a graph of respondents to a community survey about Health Care Coverage. The graph contains income amounts from $15,000 to $85,000 and percentages of people who do not receive coverage based on their income. The graph shows the lower the income the less likely to afford coverage. Table 2 displays, of those who took the survey their reasons for having no Coverage. The reason with the highest percentage was “could not afford prem...
...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.
Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems.