The mother frantically scrambled through the house as she desperately searched for an inhaler for her suffering son. She swiftly shuffled through the drawers in hope of discovering it somewhere throughout the house. The boy was in the living room turning a concerning shade of blue. Alas, the mother found the inhaler and rushed into the living room to aid her son who was in desperate need of assistance. The father of the son entered with incredible pace from the garage as he returned home from work. He swooped up his son and hurried to the car. They called ahead to the hospital to let the doctors know of their situation and that they were on their way to the emergency room. They arrived, and the nurses were there to meet them as they walk through …show more content…
It Is hard to establish the best idea of how health care should be handled because many people have differing opinions about the subject. There are many key terms that the ordinary citizen may or may not be familiar with when talking about healthcare. Most people have heard about health insurance, but one may not be familiar with what all health insurance does. Health insurance simply is an arrangement with a company or government agency to provide a guarantee of protection against a specific illness or injury. Most health insurance plans are employer-sponsored which means that people that are employed receive health care through the place they work (Health Care …show more content…
health care system has much to brag about, there is still room for significant improvement. When we compare ourselves to other industrialized countries (for example, Canada and Great Britain), this gives us something to aim for and seek improvements in our current system. Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPs), and Affordable Care Act (ACA-Obamacare) marketplace subsidies — together accounted for 25% of the U.S. Federal Budget in 2015. Nearly two-thirds of this amount went to Medicare, which provides health coverage to around 55 million people who are over age 65, or others having disabilities. In 2015, 8 million of the 11 million people enrolled in health insurance exchanges received Obamacare subsidies, which is an estimated cost of around $28 billion (Policy Basis).
The U.S. spends approximately 17% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health expenditures (the total value of health related services provided in one year). By comparison, Canada’s health expenditures as a percentage of GDP are almost 11%, while Great Britain is only a little over 9% (Health Expenditure). While Obamacare has done much to reduce the number of uninsured Americans, a 2015 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the uninsured rate is around 9%. This means that 28.5 million people are not insured even though it is now required by federal law (Uninsured
Healthcare is a complicated thing, but there are lots of things that need to be addressed. There is controversy about whether healthcare is a right, responsibility, or a privilege. This essay is going to explain examples of each. The word right can be defined simply as “something to which one has a just claim” (merriam-webster.com). According to the online legal dictionary, the word privilege is defined as “a special benefit, exemption from a duty, or immunity from penalty, given to a particular person, a group or a class of people”. Google dictionary describes responsibility as “The state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something”, or “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something.”
Due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law on March 23rd, 2010; health care in the US is presently in a state of much needed transition. As of 2008, 46 Million residents (15% of the population) were uninsured and 60% of residents had coverage from private insurers. 55% of those covered by private insurers received it through their employer and 5% paid for it directly. Federal programs covered 24% of Americans; 13% under Medicare and10% under Medicaid. (Squires, 2010)
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.
Out of all the industrialized countries in the world, the United States is the only one that doesn’t have a universal health care plan (Yamin 1157). The current health care system in the United States relies on employer-sponsored insurance programs or purchase of individual insurance plans. Employer-sponsored coverage has dropped from roughly 80 percent in 1982 to a little over 60 percent in 2006 (Kinney 809). The government does provide...
The United States spends vast amounts on its healthcare, while falling short of achieving superiority over other developed nations. One cannot overlook that the deepening recession has left many without jobs and therefore lacking health insurance. According to Fairhall and Steadman, (2009), even though the recession is hard on all, it is worse on the uninsured due to health care and insurance cost rising faster than incomes. Nevertheless, even those with jobs are lacking in health insurance due to employers, who provide insurance, are increasingly dropping their sponsored insurance. Many find that purchasing a health policy or paying for medical care out-of-pocket is cost prohibitive. “Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by 3.6 million,” (Fairhall & Steadman, 2009). In 2009 it was stated that approximately 46 million Americans were uninsured, however not all of that number is due to the inability to afford coverage. According to a 2009 story written by Christopher Weaver of Kaiser Health News, 43% of that number should be classified as “voluntarily” uninsured. This subset of uninsured Americans consist of nearly half being young and healthy; therefo...
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.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, beginning this year Medicaid will expand eligibility to include all uninsured individuals under the age of 65 whose incomes fall at or below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, or about $32,500 for a family of four. However, the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law also allowed states more flexibility concerning what parts of the ACA they can implement and said that those same states would not lose federal funding for their existing programs. This result would leave the decision to opt out of the law's provision into the hands of state legislators. While twenty-six states have chosen to expand healthcare coverage, twenty-one states have not and four have yet to make a decision. The state of Florida is among those not seeking to expand coverage and that decision alone could cost Florida millions of dollars a year in tax penalties. As conservative and liberal state lawmakers square off into a maelstrom of debate over whether Medicaid should cover more people, thousands of uninsured Floridians will be caught in the crossfire.
According to the most recent numbers posted by the Census Bureau, an estimated 47 million Americans are uninsured. But let us examine these numbers closer. Of this 47 million, roughly 7 million are illegal immigrants, 9 million are on Medicade, 3.5 million are eligible for healthcare but do not pursue these available health services, and approximately 20 million families have incomes above the poverty level ($41,300 for a family of four) and can afford regular healthcare services with more coverage. Government tries to add all these factors together to make the numbers higher, in an attempt to gai...
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).
The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is a new health policy created by the American federal government. Its purpose is to make healthcare more affordable and friendly for the people. Unfortunately in some way that does not prove to be the case. It is becoming apparent that Obama may have made some misleading statements to help get the ACA put into action. The ACA is sprinkled with many flaws that call for a reform such as people’s current plans being terminated, high costs, and at minimum some people’s hours being cut by their employers.
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
Healthcare plays an important role in almost every person’s life at one point or another. Many times, one can get caught without, or underinsured and it can be detrimental to their livelihood. With the rising cost of healthcare, it is likely that having a national healthcare policy in place, and as an individual, being able to afford and obtain adequate health insurance has not been required until now. With the new national healthcare plan, it is required for all citizens to obtain and maintain some sort of public or private insurance policy. The rising costs can be attributed to many things. A significant reason for the astronomical cost of health care is because of the staggering amount of uninsured or underinsured individuals receiving medical attention and almost many never paying the bill. Those who do have insurance have seen a gradual increase in their premiums and deductibles to make up for this.
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.
Universal health care is medical insurance provided to all the residents of a country by their government. Out of all the major industrial countries, The United States is the only country without a universal health care system. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed a health care reform law making it illegal to be uninsured in America, which is a major step towards it. Universal Health Care should be mandatory in America because it gives everyone an opportunity to receive more equal care, the overall health of the population would increase and current insurance plans are unaffordable for many Americans.
...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.