Health care should be a basic human right. The human right to health care means that hospitals, clinics, medicines, and doctors services must be accessible, available, acceptable, and of good quality for everyone, where and when needed. The design of the health care system is guided by specific human rights standards. The first is Universal Access. Access to health care must be universal, guaranteed for all, and physically accessible when and where needed. Second is Availability. There was must be adequate health care infrastructure, including hospitals and well trained professionals, as well as locations in all geographic areas and to all communities. Third is Acceptability and Dignity. Health care institutions must provide respect, culturally …show more content…
In 2014, 836 million government dollars were spent on health care. This equated to 24 percent of the total federal government budget (“Policy Basics,” 2015). With the induction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, Americans who could not normally afford health care were finally going to be able to afford the coverage they needed, but that was not true. The ACA’s mandate to buy health insurance does not reach everyone because many uninsured individuals do not want to get involved with the expensive and complex insurance system. While the ACA does close some of the gap in the insurance market, it fails to create access for people that never budgeted for insurance (Romano, 2014). For those that can not afford health care and feel they do not need it, no need to worry. In 2016, the government will only fine you $695 per adult and $347.50 per child under 18 for not having insurance (“Individual Mandate,” n.d.). The ACA will insure millions, but it will also leave tens of millions of Americans still uninsured (Romano, 2014). The administrative costs in the U.S. health care system are the highest in the world. These administrative costs do not pay for improved patient care; they pay for more administrators. These additional administrators perform a function not needed in other countries; their main purpose is to restrict access to health care and limit the benefits of patients who do gain …show more content…
hasn’t brought its citizens free health care yet, but other countries have. Compared to the other 33 countries part of The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), U.S. spending on health care is more than two-and-a-half-times more than most of them including the richer nations like France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The average spending per person for these 33 countries was $3,268 per person, and the U.S. sits at $8,233 per person. A hospital stay in the United States costs over $18,000 on average. The countries that come closest to spending that much are Canada, the Netherlands, and Japan, which all spend between $4,000 and $6,000 less per stay. Procedures like coronary bypasses however cost nearly 50 percent more in Canada, Australia, and France. In other countries with universal healthcare, a common fees schedule is used so that hospitals, doctors, and health services are paid relatively the same rates for most of the patients they see. U.S. payment rates cannot change without approval by Congress. In the U.S. however, how much a care service gets depends on the kind of insurance the patient has, if any at all. With such a system, health care services can choose patients who have more generous paying insurance policies over those who have lower-paying insurers, such as Medicaid (Kane, 2012). Patients in the U.S. have faster access to specialized health care, but they are less likely to report rapid access to care than leading
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
Access to healthcare provides financial stability by assuring people that they will not be financially destroyed by injury or illness. Additionally, when people can afford regular medical care they tend to avoid chronic problems and financial stress. In a study provided by the American Medical Students Association, researchers reviewed the costs and benefits of universal health care. They came to the conclusion, after reviewing other articles and statistics from multiple sources, that, “The annual cost of diminished health and shorter life spans of Americans without insurance is $65-$130 billion.” (Chua 5) This comes from people not having adequate health care and then losing their jobs because they...
Universal health insurance is available to everybody with an option to purchase private insurance coverage (The U.S. Health Care System: An International Perspective, 2014). Approximately 90% of the population uses the national system in which premiums are income based. The system uses 240 private insurers for a non-profit, competitive system. Insurance costs are significantly less than the U.S. due to cost negotiations for medical facilities, appointments, and prescription medications (Sick Around the World, 2008). B. United States Healthcare System Healthcare in the U.S. has recently been affected by implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010.
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.).
Healthcare systems are put in place so that they can meet and satisfy the healthcare needs of a people within a geographical area. They have the mandate to deliver healthcare services to the intended group or population and ensure fair...
Some of the realizations of other human rights are not possible if an individual cannot maintain his/her own health. Most crucial health needs includes the prevention of stillbirths and infant mortality; the improvement of environmental and industrial hygiene, the prevention treatment, and control of diseases, with the provision of medical care to the sick.
American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs). Premiums have risen five times faster than workers wages, on average. If medical spending continues to rise by just two percent more than personal income, by 2040 Medicare and Medicaid would hit 18.5 percent of the gross domestic product, leading the federal deficit to be 20.7 of the gross domestic product. (Melcer, R., 2004, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Rising Costs of healthcare pose huge challenges).
Healthcare Policy has been through many ups and downs over the years. The first United States legislature to involve healthcare dates back to 1798, when “The Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen” was adopted. This approach is not very different in how healthcare works today. The act called for a 200 cent tax on seamen in order to pay for their health care. But it wasn’t until 1912, when President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned on a platform to adopt a single national health service. Finally a program called Medicaid was adopted to insure low income families, and in 1966, Medicare was adopted, guaranteeing health care for those over the age of 65 who paid into the system. Finally, The Affordable Health Care for America Act was introduced in 2009, and while it has changed and been revised a few times since then, it is th...
Obamacare: the Temporary Solution to an Evolving Issue The need for universal health care within the United States has been evident, and needs to be addressed. The old healthcare system was plagued with issues, including expensive premiums that were on the rise, along with an inflated average infant mortality rate and limited average life expectancy, which ultimately led to many people being left uninsured (“Affordable” 2). In the 2012 presidential election, one key issue was how to reform America’s broken health care system, and to instate a successful universal healthcare system that has resolved the previous issues. Being one of the last influential and competitive countries in the world without universal healthcare, the pressure was on for the United States to develop its own system.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
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.
The video Sick Around the World (2008) interviewed five countries on their health care policies, how they worked, and if the general population of that country was in favor of it. In England, the best component of their health care system was that the people did not have an insurance premium, co-pay, and never have to pay a medical bill. In Japan, there are fixed prices set every two years for each procedure. In addition, an insurance company cannot turn down someone with a specific disease or disorder. In Germany, doctors do not have to pay to attend medical school. Taiwan’s best components are that each patient has a smart card with their medical history to make it easier when they go to the doctor’s office, and they do not allow the rich to opt out of insurance. In Switzerland, everyone must have insurance, and if people refuse they are automatically assigned to an insurance company.
In today’s society, medicine faces several issues. A major issue is healthcare insurances. Healthcare Insurance is getting more expensive, which mean less people have access to it. The purpose of medicine is to provide a better life to the people; however, insurance companies stands in the way of this goal. For example, poor people who do not have access to healthcare insurance cannot afford treatment to their sickness. Also, insurance companies decide the type of medicine to be provided for the patients. As a result, insurance companies have the say in deciding who will live and who will die. Medicine should be a right, not an option. People’s wealth should not determine their health status.
The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment. (“What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care”, n.d.). Health should be a human right and should have access to all people. It will also show that all human beings are treated equally. Many people ask this question is Health a human right? Should people have given access to human right? I believe that health should be a human right because it provides quality of life, encourage equity, provide prevention and awareness and eliminate discrimination among people.
Throughout our healthy brains, healthy bodies course so far, we have learned time and time again about the strong and important relationship between our brains and our bodies. Health and wellness is not one single thing, it is a collection of practices, attitudes and ways of being in the world, which help us cultivate the best form of ourselves. Finding and understanding the ways in which we can best take care of ourselves, and then applying them, gives us the opportunity to improve our physical, cognitive, mental and emotional wellbeing. Embodying our healthiest selves helps not only us, it helps those around us by providing a positive example about how to exist within our own bodies, and exist within the world. Throughout this paper, we will