We Must Change the American Health Care System
I came to the United States sixteen years ago. Being a European, I have watched with great interest and disbelief about the ongoing disagreements regarding a socialized health care system, which President Bill Clinton has proposed. I am a native of Poland and experienced positive benefits of socialized medicine, so I can't understand why some people are so negative towards changes in the health care program. Are we really happy with our current medical insurance? I don't think so. Recent data from the Census Bureau show that "43.4 million people in the United States had no health insurance coverage" (Bennefield 1). Almost eleven million American children are uninsured as well. Adults and children don't have medical coverage because they can't afford it (1). People who do have some form of medical coverage are often unaware of the hidden costs dictated by the private insurance companies. In addition, do you recall how many times you have watched the news about people asking us for financial support because they couldn't pay their medical bill? What is wrong with this picture? Why do we have to ask for charity versus having a better health system? I strongly believe that health care should be available to anyone, and especially in America, the richest country in the world. We all want good, affordable medical coverage, but we are not getting it. Therefore, we should change the current medical system by following the example of socialized medicine in Europe, by making changes in the insurance companies, and by making preventive medicine our priority.
First of all, let me tell you what socialized medicine means. It is a public system of national health insurance where doctors are usually paid for their services by the government, and everyone is eligible for medical care without any preexisting condition. Most European countries have some form of socialized medicine. For example, in Poland the health care system is free. Employers pay 48% of a worker's monthly salary to cover not only medical care but the retirement program as well. The rest of the money for medical needs comes from the government's funds. My sister, who lives in Germany, told me that 13.1% of her monthly salary is deducted from her paycheck to cover the medical insurance. She said that she only pays about $5 for her prescriptions and about $15 per day for a hospital stay.
Health care advancements in America are notably the best in the world. We continually strive for preventions and cures of diseases. America has the best medical scientists and physicians that specialize in their medical fields. According to Joseph A. Califano Jr. (2003), "what makes America health care system great is its ability to attract the finest minds in our society," that can help the sick by preventing and curing medical complications. (p. 18). We are noted worldwide for our medical care and physicians from other countries jump at the opportunity to join the American medical system.
Quality healthcare in the more rural areas of the United States is not only getting more difficult to obtain, but difficult to afford. American citizens living in rural areas have the highest rates of chronic disease, higher poverty populations, less health insurance, and there is less access to primary care physicians. When the economy is at its lowest point it causes an increase in a number of access and health issues that have already had prior problems in communities and in rural areas, therefore the main goal of the national health care tax of 2010 was to allow coverage to all residents of the United States, and also by transferring necessary health care to places that were farther away, such as the rustic areas of the United States (HealthReform.Gov, 2012).
The United States government is considered to be a social welfare state. As discussed in class and mentioned in our notes a social welfare state is, “a society with a set of government programs that ensures a minimum standard of living for families and protects individuals from loss of income”. The United States in turn has several programs in its social welfare system. One of them is Medicare, which has seen a huge growth in recent years, and is funded by payroll taxes. Medicare
41 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2001. In 2004, the number rose to 45 million. And in 2005, 47 million people were living without health care. On the other hand, 84% of Americans had health care in 2005 according to a census. So what is wrong with America's health care?
We don’t have a healthcare system in America that care for people it’s a number game based on how many people are seen. The more medication a person is on the more money the heath care makes. We will never have single-payer or universal healthcare because the insurance companies. I work for a home health care company and I am not happy I am pissed off every day knowing there are so many people out there that need our help but due to the fact they don’t have Medicare we must refuse those people.99% of home health care companies are like this. Who really care for people that are sick. In Africa if you have no money the doctor won’t see you they hospital will leave you outside to die. I feel as if America is not that different from Africa the rise of healthcare make it often hard for people to afford healthcare, I have a friend who has Medicare and she is on a fix income with COPD and several other illness and was told as of 2017 the will deduct more money from her ssi check and she stated if they do that she won’t be able to pay her bills and she will have to go without healthcare
Our previous health care system has many flaws the most predominant problem is that it left many American’s without insurance. A segment aired on PBS reported that “44 million Americans are uninsured and 8 out of 10 of those are workers or their dependents.” I happen to be one of the millions who worked full time—by full time I mean at least 70 hours a week—whose employer didn’t offer employees health insurance. I was not able to afford private insurance yet; I made too much to receive any kind of government subsidies, even after I was laid off, collecting unemployment. Even if you are insured it’s likely you are one of the 38 million (PBS) living with inadequate insurance. Many uninsured people will delay going to doctor or not at all because they can’t afford the ou...
From the Harvard Business Review organization reference an article entitled “Fixing Health Care from the Inside, Today” by Steven J. Spears clarifies how health care professionals can ensure quality and essentials through the application of the principles and procedures of evidence-based medicine. Seeing that healthcare professionals are an intelligent and well-trained team that chose the career of treating and assisting comfort to a patient that are in a need. According to Spears, U.S. health systems is noticed to be one of the best healthcare systems that have an effective marketing mechanism of doctors, and medical staff.
Who should get health care? How should we pay for it? Do we have a responsivity to ensure all our citizens get the same level, health care, regardless of their station in life? These are all questions that have been debated and asked during the history of our government. But what are the answers to these questions? Let us look at the different ways our government has chosen to answer some of these questions over the years. It is a fact that compared to other Western nations, our government has spent more per-capita on health care than any other nation, this shows just how much of an important issue our government believes it to be. People have had many different ideas about how a universal government-run health care plan would look, in their article “Universal Health Care in the US” by Lora Cicconi and Kerri Strug, (Cicconi, Strug May 25, 1999) they believed that
If there’s one thing that Democrats and Republicans agree on, it’s that our health care system is in shambles. It’s the laughingstock of the civilized world, to be perfectly honest. The World Health Organization, part of the United Nations, ranks the United States 37th overall, just ahead of Slovenia and Cuba, and right behind Dominica and Costa Rica. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen; the World Health Organization ranks the mighty United States just above communist Cuba.
What Seems To Be The Problem? A discussion of the current problems in the U.S. healthcare system.
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?
In many other countries the health care is government controlled and all citizens are provided government assisted health care. Most systems over in Europe are indeed government controlled and are taxed my wages. The United States government does not pay for most of its citizens healthcare in contrast. If you are fournate enough to afford insurance it's usually through your employer. In comparssion almost all government operated insurances provide better care for babies and pregant mothers than the United States system of health care. The United States system are more flexible than government aided systems though.
According to cyclopedia.com many recent studies, socialized systems outperform free-market profit-driven systems in terms of availability, quality, and cost of care. What does Socialized Medicine do it helps out people who can’t pay for their medical niceties, also known for it pays for all care, it employs the providers, and it runs the facilities In verywell health.com explains that in many counties across the world including Canada, Great Britain, Finland, and Spain socialized medicine is the main form of health access for many of its citizens. Another thing you should know is that The VA as an Example of Socialized Medicine. According to verywell health it also explains that in the U.S. The truth is, the United States already employs several forms of Socialized Medicine. The Veteran's Administration healthcare system is one example, and in many ways, it
In the United States, about 44 million people have no health insurance, while another 38 million have an inadequate health insurance (“Healthcare Crisis”). This means that about a third of Americans wake up every day knowing that if they fall sick, they would not be able to procure the medical attention they need at an affordable cost. In wake of such statistics, many people argue that the US is lacking in providing these people with free or affordable healthcare that they need, as the UN and WHO recognize healthcare as a human right (Sherrow 31). On the other hand, many people also think that it puts unreasonable burdens on the government, and therefore the people while paying taxes, all while robbing people of their freedom of choice as to
The real problem with the health care system in this country is not just the people running it but mainly the massive pit of debt it is continually digging. America spends around 17%, which is about $2.5 trillion of our GDP on health care alone! It is safe to say we spend nearly more than any other country out there. Where is all of this money going though, are they just giving it away to those in need of free medicine or people who cant pay there doctors bills? Most of the money spent is on regulations, research on medicines and failures of medicines that may have not made the “cut” to be on the market.