There are numerous social problems that should be addressed in America. More than ninety-nine percent of Americans have watched the news on television and are bombarded with announcements of death, headlines of financial struggles, and crisis happening all around the world. We all agree that we need to take action. Three major social problems are health care reform, education, and unemployment. The social problems are firmly ingrained in our cultures, changing and finding a solution to them will not be easy. Many American citizens are uninsured and health care cost have increased tremendously over the years. Most Americans spend their yearly income to pay for their health insurance. Americans are forced to buy their health insurance. …show more content…
Without leadership as well as individuals help, we would not be able to prevent the catastrophe that will be coming. Obama Care, also known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or Affordable Care Act (ACA) goal was to have every American have equal health care. The metrics are misguided, the Affordable Care Act only benefits the poor and not the middle class or the upper class. Only less than half the people who signed up for Obama Care succeeded in receiving health insurance. Although the upper class have a higher chance of finding a doctor that accepts their insurance because of social networking, many hospitals do not accept Obama Care (Rohall, D.E., Milkie, M.A., & Lucas, J.W., 41).” The government should not require American citizens to have health insurance. They should provide free health care like Canada. One of the unhealthiest countries in the world is America. The rate of obesity in America has elevated an abnormal amount. High blood pressure, heart failure, and strain are some major factors in obesity that could lead to death. Obesity is hard to escape, …show more content…
“Iowa and Indiana schools that taught social interactionism were developed after World War II (Rohall, D.E., Milkie, M.A., & Lucas, J.W., 37).” To improve on America’s education, we need to look at the situation from a different view. Instead of concentrating on what happens during class, we need to concentrate on what happens before and after school. The government should provide free afterschool care centers for children with busy parents. Children with problems in school are usually the results of poor parenting or bad social services. The first five years of school are imperative to young students, it could dictate their success or failure in life. Young children who live in poverty have a higher risk of failing school, but they are more likely to succeed if they attend a good preschool. Parents tend to blame schools for their children doing badly since it is difficult for a parent to acknowledge that they need help parenting and that their children are not the smartest students. There may by some problems within schools, law, and teachers; however, schools should not be the only one blamed. We all must step back and make educations our top priority because children are our future. Why are children the “future?” As a nation, we take certain roles and position with an expectation to fulfill what is needed (Rohall, D.E., Milkie, M.A., & Lucas, J.W., 37).
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.
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
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.
In 2010 Barack Obama signed the healthcare reform law requiring all Americans to have insurance. While this law decreases the problem of the uninsured in America, it does not solve the problem of the ever increasing cost of healthcare in America. As it stands today, America is the only major industrialized country that does not provide a universal health care system to its citizens (see Appendix A for a geographical view of nations with universal healthcare).
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.
There is an ongoing debate on the topic of how to fix the health care system in America. Some believe that there should be a Single Payer system that ensures all health care costs are covered by the government, and the people that want a Public Option system believe that there should be no government interference with paying for individual’s health care costs. In 1993, President Bill Clinton introduced the Health Security Act. Its goal was to provide universal health care for America. There was a lot of controversy throughout the nation whether this Act was going in the right direction, and in 1994, the Act died. Since then there have been multiple other attempts to fix the health care situation, but those attempts have not succeeded. The Affordable Care Act was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. President Obama signed it into law on March 23 (Obamacare Facts). This indeed was a step forward to end the debate about health care, and began to establish the middle ground for people in America. In order for America to stay on track to rebuild the health care system, we need to keep going in the same direction and expand our horizons by keeping and adding on to the Affordable Care Act so every citizen is content.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said:“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Mr. Roosevelt was indicating that education is key to ensuring a positive future for our country. Years have passed since his presidency, and many can argue that America’s educational system has improved, but that still remains to be seen. While it is true that education has gotten more focus in recent years, as highlighted by the “No Child Left Behind Act,” it does not mean that the system is fully developed enough to aid all of America’s children. Now, the average American is just that: average. Children generally receive B’s and C’s, average grades, in school if they are lucky enough to be in a good school system. Literacy rates are lower than they seem, and not enough people are properly motivated to do well in school. Forms of entertainment and parental influence, which also play a large role in the development of children into successful, productive adults, are not where they should be with respects to education. Much more needs to be done to improve the educational system of the entire country. Preschool should be made mandatory to help individuals reach their full potential and achieve what only a minority of today’s society is currently capable of.
Over 46.3 Million People in the United States (15.4 percent of the US population) did not have health insurance in 2008 (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2009). Consequently, many Americans receive little or no health care. Many, but not all of these people are women and children. Some are destitute, some are not. Many of these people are hard working Americans who cannot afford coverage, yet earn too much money to qualify for their state Medicaid plans, but should have access to health care. In 2008, health care expenditures surpassed $2.3 trillion, more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 1980 (Kimbuende, Ranji, Lundy, & Salganicoff, 2010, para. 1). In 2007, 62.1 Percent of all US bankruptcies were related to medical expenses. Ironically, 78 percent of the medical bankruptcies were filed by people who had health insurance (Himmelstein, Thorne, Warren, & Woolhandler, 2009). Due to the rising costs of healthcare and increased numbers of the uninsured most Americans support the need for healthcare reform; however the reform that is proposed by the government is unfair, too expensive and inadequate to meet the needs of our population.
Because of this “approximately twenty to forty-five thousand people die in the United States each year due to a lack of health insurance.” (Obamacare) Not only that but “about fifty-three million Americans have admitted, with or without insurance, they cannot afford to see a doctor.” (LUHBY)
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 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.
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.
at least try to get a job. If there are more people like this, the country