We all know that this country has a system of doctors and hospitals to take care of us when we get sick. What many people don't know is that there also is a system that keeps us healthy. It works in the ways that we aren't usually aware of. It's the public health system. Everyday you see headlines about public health in the newspaper. But you probably don't even recognize that the headlines reflect a public health system at work. Public health protects you and keeps you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Everyday. Day after day. There are several public health measures that need to be actively engaged in order to help reform health care in America. Public health measures focus on the population, sanitation, disease control, infant mortality, nutrition, occupational health, and environmental health. Modern sanitation was one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the late 19th and early 20th century. Contamination of drinking water supplies by human waste is a cause of many deadly infectious diseases, including cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever. It remains a problem in undeveloped countries, and we all witnessed the great concern about disease when the December, 2004 tsunami wiped out sanitation systems in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The nation's public health system continues to provide proper waste disposal and safe drinking water. These are prime examples of how public health, which take care of one person at a time. Public health works to keep entire populations healthy, and when it fails, entire populations suffer. Hopefully, you go to your dentist regularly and follow directions to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Flouridation of the public drinking water supply, which began in 1945, is a maj... ... middle of paper ... ... preventing disease and protecting the health of their communities. You've heard the old proverb, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." We know that public health measures don't just save lives, they also save money. For instance, every single dollar spent for childhood immunizations for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) saves $27 in direct medical costs. Every dollar spent for immunizations of the elderly against influenza and pneumonia saves $2.21. Every individual, every constituent, expects that the public health system will continue to protect him or her and his family. I have shown you the many ways that public health fulfills that mission, in ways so invisible that few people outside public health even notice. With these public health measures, I am fully confident that we will change the direction of health care in America.
Public health is a vast field that encompasses many issues. Generally speaking, it deals with the safety and protection of people in a society as well as education
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.
For decades, one of the many externalities that the government is trying to solve is the rising costs of healthcare. "Rising healthcare costs have hurt American competitiveness, forced too many families into bankruptcy to get their families the care they need, and driven up our nation's long-term deficit" ("Deficit-Reducing Healthcare Reform," 2014). The United States national government plays a major role in organizing, overseeing, financing, and more so than ever delivering health care (Jaffe, 2009). Though the government does not provide healthcare directly, it serves as a financing agent for publicly funded healthcare programs through the taxation of citizens. The total share of the national publicly funded health spending by various governments amounts to 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, GDP (Jaffe, 2009). By 2019, government spending on Medicare and Medicaid is expected to rise to 6 percent and 12 percent by 2050 (Jaffe, 2009). The percentages, documented from the Health Policy Brief (2009) by Jaffe, are from Medicare and Medicaid alone. The rapid rates are not due to increase of enrollment but growth in per capita costs for providing healthcare, especially via Medicare.
For the last five years of my life I have worked in the healthcare industry. One of the biggest issues plaguing our nation today has been the ever rising cost of health care. If we don't get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to lower the cost of health care in this nation.
The governmental level of responsibility is to protect and advance the interests of society. The market place alone simply can not ensure that all Americans will have access to quality health care. The government must acknowledge the interests brought about by citizens in general especially in the health care realm. Proper planning and ultimate goals set to achieve high quality care will require strong partnerships among federal, state, and local governments solely. A combination of all sectors of the government is what American needs to succeed.
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 ...
Health care in the United States is a booming topic that everyone seems to have their own opinion on, but are the health care companies really interested in making the world a healthier place or are they more interested in making money? This is a growing social problem in not only the United States but the world. The social problems that are arising from health care are the growing pharmaceutical problems, the issue on overmedication, and the issue surrounding privatized hospitals. These social problems have been growing for decades and it is finally time to stop them.
Improving health is in the best interest of everyone, including non health professionals. Health mangers need to be constantly looking for ways to improve access to health, the quality of the care, and cost containment.
Some of the reasons for the increase in the cost of health care are: third party payments; imperfect market; technology growth, increase in the number of elderly population; current medical model of health care delivery; multi payer system and administrative cost; defensive medicine. One societal issue that healthcare organizations must respond is the high healthcare cost. The high healthcare cost is the reason of increasing burdens of many Americans. A survey was done by Henry Kaiser Family Foundation and learned that 58 percent of people did not seek treatment that they needed because of the rising healthcare cost (Huff/Post50, 2012). Healthcare organization can help with the issue by supporting their community thru social support, education of preventive benefits, health promotion, health management, counseling, and person centered planning. The second societal issue is the healthcare availability. Disparities in healthcare access remain a problem in America. Healthcare organization can help people in the community thru education and behavioral healthcare. According to Wyland (2014), chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and substance use disorders are behaviorally based, necessitating recurring instead of acute intervention to be treated successfully. Educational and community based programs play an important role in preventing disease and injury, improving health, and enhancing quality of life. Everyone have personal responsibility in one’s own health through active participation, education, and lifestyle change (Harkness & DeMarco, 2016). The third issue is the healthcare equity. The reason of gaps in the quality of care is due to the inability of healthcare organizations to integrate improvement measures into the process of care (Mayberry, Nicewander, Qin, & Ballard, 2006). It is important to ensure that care is accessible and
Nearly every American can agree that our current health care system needs reforms. Primarily do to the fact that 45.7 million Americans are without health insurance. That's approximately 16 percent of Americans who sometimes have to do without healthcare, or face crucial financial responsibility. The main issues are admission to healthcare, and the affordability of health care. Before 1920, doctors didn't know enough about diseases to really provide useful care to sick people. Therefore the...
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.
Health is by far the most important thing for a human being, so every penny invested on it has to work. This essay is about the study of the current state of American health reforms and why they are desperately required. Unfortunately things are not that bright as they might seem, an American investing most of their money on health care is basically not getting the level of health care they deserves. With all the investment in the medical field and all the advancements of medical domains, government should be providing best health care in the world for its people.
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.
Health is a multifaceted facet field that is studied in order to protect and promote the general wellness for all individuals in the population. Physical health, specifically, is an aspect of every individual that is essential to have at its best. Thus, in order to provide not only the best physical health, but also the best mental, emotional, social, and behavioral health, public health officials and other members in the public health field work vigorously in order to comprehend the health situation of every social group in society. Throughout this process, many public health officials have gradually realized that there is an apparent inequity in the method for which we provide and promote good health to individuals in society. Although not
Public Health is the science of preventing disease and promoting health through many different ideas and functions by informing society and different community-based organizations. The idea behind Public Health is to protect and serve; it helps improve the lives of countless individuals through promoting a healthier lifestyle, education, research, prevention, detection, and response management. From the beginning, the idea of Public Health has become a stepping-stone that is essential to the longevity of humans and the environment. As society progresses and new advents are created or modified, Public Health