The Price is Right

The lack of medical care is causing many deaths that could have been evaded with the proper medical attention. It is time to start spending money where it is needed. Our citizens are crying out for help when it comes to their medical needs, but is anyone listening? The Need for Health Care Reform Our economy is in recession. Many people are looking for jobs that are just not available.

Every year a citizen that is employed or non-employed suffers from not having proper healthcare coverage. In most developed nations they have universal coverage that covers their citizens and their families. Apparently here in the U.S, healthcare is a controversial problem for our economy and even a bigger problem funding these benefits for our citizens. Now the main question that citizens are asking is "If most developed nations have universal coverage, why doesn't the wealthiest nation which is the U.S have it?" (Ponnuru)This is an issue that no one but the government can let us know what's really going on at the moment, but results are always popping up as misguided quest or funds being lost.

Daelyn Sagert September 14, 2017 Comp. 1 4th hour Exemplification Essay Why Organ Donation Should Be Encouraged Organ donation is always a hard decision to make before you pass away, and for your loved ones to make after you have passed away. People often misinterpret how organ donation works. In order for someone to want to be a donor they have to be able to understand all the facts about it. Not all people realize how important being an organ donor is.

Should there be death or tragedy at the result of poverty and high health care costs, or should a business such as a hospital lose millions everyday to give health care to those who can't afford it? An average person like me would feel for the person who could not afford sufficient health insurance, and as in the case above, the baby inside that mother's womb didn't choose its financial situation, or its parents. That baby didn't ask to be born, and it wasn't given a chance to live. It wasn't necessarily the doctors fault, and it wasn't even his or her decision, because of business. Business has moved to the heart of health care, a place once relatively cushioned from the pursuit of profit that drives the rest of the U.S. economy.

Many HMO's actually make more money if their doctors see or treat fewer patients. According to the Associated Press, “Consumers who have been denied a treatment that the HMO says is not covered, or who inadvertently fail to follow HMO guidelines in seeking treatment and are therefore denied reimbursement, will continue to have little recourse.” (2) Many people must drive for hours, generally sick or injured, simply to receive treatment from a doctor that will be covered by their HMO. Another downfall to HMO coverage is selective-contracting. This is a process where hospitals deny treatment to patients because their... ... middle of paper ... ...ts to cover their mistakes. This is the exact opposite of what the country needs.

One person has the opportunity to save up to fifty lives just by deciding to be an organ donor and doing so would help with the organ shortage in the United States. One myth that stops somebody from being an organ donor is the belief that the family will be charged extra too allow their loved one to be an organ donor (Steve Rudich)., people that believe they will be charged extra for this procedure do not allow their loved one to become an organ donor in fear of extra expenses added onto an already high medical bill in addition to having the funeral and burial expenses as well (Steve Rudich). According to the Kidney Caucus all of the costs that are related to the medical procedure required to remove organs and tissue will be paid for by the donor program and not the donor family. If a family was to receive a medical bill for the procedure from the hospital or an insurance company they should contact that agent immediately because it is a mistake (Congressman Jim McDermott). A second myth for some people is that when a doctor declares a person dead it is because that will die soon and actually that they were not dead at all (Nancy Valko 2).

The most widely known misconception associated with organ donation is that a donor will not receive the same medical treatment as a non-donor. Many people are lead to believe that doctors won’t put in much of an effort to save the life of a patient if that patient is an organ donor; yet this is completely false. In actuality, organ donors receive the same treatment as any other ... ... middle of paper ... ...d how well oxygen is transferred into the blood, and AlloMap molecular expression testing to monitor the recipient’s white blood cells and determine the risk of acute cellular rejection (Transplant). Along with all of these tests, there are additional tests that recipients will most likely have to perform at home, such as checking their temperature, blood pressure, weight, and pulse. These will all vary with each kind of transplant.

Hence, the stark discrepancy in transplantable organ supply and demand is one of the reasons that exacerbate this organ donation shortage (Parker, Winslade, & Paine, 2002). In the past, many people sought the supply of transplantable organs from cadaver donors. However, when many ethical issues arose about how to determine whether someone is truly dead by either cardiopulmonary or neurological conditions (Tong, 2007), many healthcare professionals and transplant candidates switched their focus on obtaining transplantable organs from living donors instead. As a result, in 2001, the number of living donors surpassed the number of cadaver donors for the first time (Tong, 2007). Despite an increased rate in organ transplantation from living donors, the supply and demand of recipients and donors still has not met.

Many people have the false beliefs about being an organ donor. An example would be if organ donor is on their driver’s license and a person is in a life-threatening accident everything will not be done to save their life. There is an increase need for organ donors and unfortunately the need for organ transplantation exceeds the amount of organs available. This causes the difficult decision of deciding who deserves the transplantation over another client. Which person deserves the opportunity of having the second chance of life with a newly transplanted organ?

Gregory Pence mentioned in his book titled “Classic Works in Medical Ethics” that three thousand Americans lose their lives while waiting for an organ transplant. Nevertheless, if organ donations become prevalent it would save or prolong some of the lives in America (Pense, 2007, 75). For example the risk of a kidney transplant ending in death or disabilities is three to ten thousand and in comparison to liposuction the risks are relatively the same (Pense, 2007, 62). A utilitarian would argue that people would rather help theirselves through liposuction instead of helping others. Other theorists such as Kant fail to realize the experience of donating an organ outweighs the potential harm to the donor (Pense, 2007, 62).