Healthcare Crisis

1192 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Current health care issues in the united states essay

Healthcare is one of the major issues that America faces today. The health insurance companies are destroying America’s health care system by raising their premiums and deductibles. One great concern, access to health care is definitely on the decline. As of 2007, more than 75 million adults-42 percent of all adults ages 19 to 64- were either uninsured or underinsured (Commonwealth Fund Commission 9). The health care system in America needs a complete overhaul, reform. Healthcare reform is a complex issue, consisting of many aspects only healthcare professionals understand. The two primary goals healthcare reform is trying to accomplish are: • Providing health insurance for all uninsured Americans • Decreasing the cost of health services and coverage Healthcare reform has been on every Democratic President’s agenda for the past 20 years. In 1993, President Clinton’s proposal to try to reform health care failed miserably. In 2008, Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton campaigned vigorously on this issue. Now, President Obama is trying to get Congress to pass his Healthcare Reform Bill. Quality of Care vs. Cost of Care Most Americans would tell you we have access to the best that medicine has to offer. In the best-case scenario, that is true. America’s doctors are among the finest in the world. The technology available today is far more superior to that of decades before, so their knowledge of diseases and possible treatments is excellent. The issue is the system has evolved to one where the balance between cost and access is at an all-time low. This means the Americans who are uninsured cannot access this excellence and the Americans who are underinsured cannot afford to access it. America ranks last out of 19... ... middle of paper ... ...lly sure if there is an exact way to fix the whole problem. Let’s hope for our sake, the government can come up with a Healthcare Reform Bill that will at least resolve some of the issues. That way every American can have proper health care in the future. Works Cited CDC Commission. CDC-Chronic Disease-Overview. 17 December 2009. 9 March 2010. Web. Commonwealth Fund Commission. Why Not The Best. Results from the National Scoreboard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008. New York: Commonwealth Fund, 2008. Print. Institue of Medicine. To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1999. Print. Lloyd, Janice. "Doctor shortage looms as primary care loses its pull." 18 August 2009. USATODAY. 9 March 2010. Print. Martin, Joseph B. "Where have all the doctors gone." 27 May 2008. Boston Globe. 9 March 2010. Print

Show More
Related

  • Canada Healthcare System vs. The United States Healthcare Systems

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    K. Stremikis, C. Schoen, and A.-K. Fryer. A Call for Change: The 2011 Commonwealth Fund Survey of Public Views of the U.S. Health System, The Commonwealth Fund, April 2011. Retrieved April 26th, 2011 from web site: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2011/Apr/Call-for-Change.aspx

    Read More

  • Waiting Times in the Emergency Rooms in Canada

    2148 Words  | 5 Pages

    There has been a shortage of physicians, lack of inpatient beds, problems with ambulatory services, as well as not having proper methods of dealing with patient overflow, all in the past 10 years (Cummings & francescutti, 2006, p.101). The area of concern that have been worse...

    Read More

  • Organizational Systems And Quality Leadership

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S. Health Care System: An International Perspective - DPEAFLCIO. (2014). Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://dpeaflcio.org/programs-publications/issue-fact-sheets/the-u-s-health-care-system-an-international-perspective/

    Read More

  • Shortage of Physicians in the United States

    2177 Words  | 5 Pages

    The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Obama Care

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Health Care Costs For The United States

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: The United States is not The Greatest Country in The World

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • All Americans Have a Right to Health Care

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with insured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage for all is pretty simple. This country needs the United States congress to act out legislation assuring essential health care coverage for all.

    Read More

  • The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

    2253 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kohn, L. et al. 2000. To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington D.C. National Academies Press.

    Read More

  • Obama's Deal Reflection

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obama tried to take on America’s toughest issue against some of the most powerful people in the country. The nation’s healthcare system was leaving millions uninsured and the US still has some of the most expensive healthcare with some of the least effective results for high-income nations. Obama originally fought for universal healthcare and then a bipartisan bill, but both represented too much change for the rigid American healthcare system. Frontline pointed out how reforming, “healthcare represents if America can still solve big problems.” Throughout the course of the film, I was left wondering if total healthcare reform was ever even possible for Obama and America, and if he was doomed from the start in his

    Read More

  • Collapsing Health Care

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most of us have always looked up to primary care physicians for almost all of our healthcare needs. They intimately know our medical history and have a general concern for our wellbeing. This field of practice is mostly dominated by people who finished internal medicine, family medicine, and general practice. After eight years of schooling, coupled with six figure student loans, some of these tireless workers are facing a thankless job.

    Read More

  • Problems With the U.S. Healthcare System

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Chronic Care Model Essay

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Health Care Crisis

    3922 Words  | 8 Pages

    It is hard to imagine life without health insurance. If you have any type of medical problem that requires attention, and you have appropriate health care insurance, you can be cared for in the finest of private hospitals. You can get great treatment and your ailments, depending on the severity, can be treated as soon as possible. Doctors, physicians and surgeons are willing to put out a big effort if they know that they are dealing with patients who are insured and have the money to go under extensive medical treatment. But imagine life without such luxuries. For example, what happens if a relative requires much needed surgery, but does not have health insurance to cover the procedure? What happens if a lack of medical insurance prevents you or your family from seeing a doctor, which could result in health problems that had not been identified but could have been treated before they became life threatening? These scenarios may seem far-fetched, but these types of situations happen to people who lack health coverage everyday. There is a true story about a patient who was insured and diagnosed with treatable cervical cancer. Unfortunately, she lost her job and with it her insurance. She was then unable to see her private doctor, and was turned away from other hospitals because ?cancer treatment is not considered an emergency in a patient who can?t pay? (?Help for D.C.?s Uninsured?). The woman later died at her home without ever being treated. This example raises the question, since when are people with less money less deserving of health care or appropriate treatment?

    Read More

  • Access To Health Care Essay

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.

    Read More

More about Healthcare Crisis

Open Document