The Health Care Puzzle
Health care in the United States has improved immensely during the past century. Improved technology has finally allowed us to eliminate deadly disease from our society. Unfortunately, the technology is expensive and has put monetary burdens upon the care receivers. No longer can a middle class American afford the astronomical fees for lifesaving operations in the hospital. Because of this, health insurance, like car insurance, flood insurance or fire insurance, has been established to assure its participant that he or she is able to be provided with the best care possible. Many horrible stories by normal people have shown that it hasn't happened. Deserved health care has not been provided, and many "insured participants" have suffered because of this. The problems of health care in the United States include: questioning of cost reduction techniques, allegations of death and injury, competition between hospitals themselves, and legal loopholes in the system. It's no wonder that medical care systems are under such scrutiny. One system in particular that has violated the system is the HMO, or Health Maintenance Organizations, a public provider which forces their patient to choose from an assortment of their physicians. Since their establishment, HMOs have gradually decreased the quality of patient health care significantly, especially in hospitals.
Debates over the health care provided by HMOs have arisen in many cases. For an alarming majority, organizations like the HMO are the only affordable option for providing health care. Since most people could never afford such costs as expensive surgeries, they have turned to HMOs to provide them with care, paid via a monthly premium. A variety of services can be offered to patients in one familiar place. In addition, the doctors are good because they are screened before acceptance by other qualifying physicians. Procedures are also given more objectively, because of no extra fee incentives for the physicians in prepaid programs, where the goal is to lower costs. Also, costs are about the same for every visit, and claim forms are kept at a minimum. Another advantage of companies like HMO is that there is a familiarity between the physicians of the HMO group. Specialists of all kinds can relate to each other because they are in a cooperative working environment. In contrast, disadvantages exist with these health providers. Since patients depend on them for care, they must trust the HMO also. This means that their health can be damaged because of a doctor's faulty decision making, instead of the patient's.
In this experiment, we determined the isotonic and hemolytic molar concentrations of non-penetrating moles for sheep red blood cells and measured the absorbance levels from each concentration. The results concluded that as the concentration increased the absorbance reading increased as well. A higher absorbance signifies higher amounts of intact RBCs. The isotonic molar concentration for NaCl and glucose is 0.3 M. The hemolysis molar concentration for NaCl and glucose is 0.05 M. Adding red blood cells to an isotonic solution, there will be no isotonic pressure and no net movement. The isotonic solution leaves the red blood cells intact. RBC contain hemoglobin which absorbs light, hemoglobin falls to the bottom of the tube and no light is absorbed. Determining the isotonic concentration of NaCl and glucose by finding the lowest molar concentration. In contrast to isotonic molar concentration, hemolysis can be determined by finding the
Sicko, a film by Michael Moore was released in 2007. The film investigates health care system in the United States. One would definitely get amazed by the facts and figures explained in this documentary. The movie explains failing health care system in the United States. America has advance medical technology, big hospitals, and educated health care professionals, but these facilities are not universal. The film starts by talking about true American stories; what some people have experienced from current health care system, those who had and did not had health insurances. The story starts by Adam, one of 50 million people in America who does not have health insurance. Due to an accident Adam required a medical treatment, but for the reason of not having any insurance he puts stitches on his leg by himself. The second story was about Rick, who accidentally cut the top of his two fingers, middle and the ring while working on the table saw. As a result of not having health insurance, Rick could not put the top of his middle finger back because it was costing 60,000 dollars and he did not had the money. So, he decided to put his ring finger back because it cost 12,000 dollars which he could afford. The movie does not go into the detail of 50 million people who do not have health insurance, but it’s about 250 million Americans who do have health insurance.
We arrived at the concert around sun set. As we pulled up to the entrance, all I could see was a mass of humans. They scattered around the front of the building, some going in and coming out. In the middle of all the transportation devices there were a few men, in black suits, who pointed in different directions. They stopped groups of humans to allow the transportation devices by and vice versa. We now left our "car" with a group of other "cars" and made our way to the building. As we entered, we were told to form lines. At the end of these lines, we were greeted by a male human who patted each person, head to toe. He took a rectangle piece of material from our hands, and put a different piece of material around my wrist. After this we were ready to enter.
Health Maintenance Organizations, or HMO’s, are a very important part of the American health care system. Also referred to as managed care programs, HMO's are combinations of doctors and insurance companies that are formed into one organization. This organization provides treatment to its members at fixed costs and decides on what treatment, if any, will be given based on the patient's or doctor's current health plan. Sometimes, no treatment is given at all. HMO's main concerns are to control costs and supposedly provide the best possible treatment to their patients. But it seems to the naked eye that instead their main goal is to get more people enrolled so that they can maintain or raise current premiums paid by consumers using their service. For HMO's, profit comes first- not patients' lives.
What Seems To Be The Problem? A discussion of the current problems in the U.S. healthcare system.
HMOs were designed–by Democrats and Republicans to dispose of individual medical coverage. Under an HMO course of action, individuals pay a set sum each month, and the HMO consents to give all their care or to pay for the secured mind that they can't give. The HMO enlists doctors and sets up clinics. The individual picks a particular supplier for his or her care called a primary care physician (PCP). Individuals agree to accept HMO coverage through their employer or through an individual arrangement.
VanPutte, Cinnamon L., Jennifer L. Regan, and Andrew F. Russo. "Chapter 11: Blood."Seeley's Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. N. pag. Print.
One being the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), which was first proposed in the 1960s by Dr. Paul Elwood in the "Health Maintenance Strategy”. The HMO concept was created to decrease increasing health care costs and was set in law as the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, after promotion from the Nixon Administration. HMO would, in exchange for a fee, allow members access to employed physicians and facilities. In return, the HMO received market access and could earn federal development funds. An HMO is a integrated delivery system that combines both the delivery and financial aspects of health care for consumers. Under the HMO, each patient is appointed to a primary care physician (PCP), who is essentially accountable for the long-term care of the members that she/he has been assigned and any specialists that a patient needs to see should be referred by their PCP. Some examples of HMOs are Kaiser Permanente and Humana. HMOs are licensed at the state level, under a license that is known as a certificate of authority. A pro of an HMO is that treatment for a patient can begin prior to their insurance being authorized; A member may benefit from this because there would be little to no treatment delays. A con of an HMO is that in order to save cost, most HMOs provide narrow provider networks; A member may not benefit if in an emergency because their “in-network” emergency room might be far or there are “quick-care” in their
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.
Discussion: The results acquired from the experiment have supported the hypothesis. In the first sample, red blood cell in the isotonic solution (NaCl 0.85%) kept its regular shape. This is because when RBC was placed in an isotonic solution, which is the solution has the same concentration of solutes as the cell, water will move into and out of the cell simultaneously and no net effect will be seen. In the second sample, cell shrank, and crenation occurred in the hypertonic solution (NaCl 10%) because the hypotonic solution has a higher osmosis pressure than the cell, water is going to escape from the cell for decreasing the high concentration of solute in the hypotonic solution. Lastly, in the hypertonic solution (NaCl 10%), cell bloated,
The American Health Care system has prided itself on providing high quality services to the citizens who normally cannot afford them. This system has been in place for years and until now it did a fairly decent job. The problem today is money; the cost of hospital services and doctor fees are rising faster than ever before. The government has been trying to come up with a new plan these past few years even though there has been strong opposition against a new Health Care system. There are many reasons why it should be changed and there are many reasons why it shouldn’t be changed. The main thing that both sides heads towards is money. Both sides want to save money just in different ways.
Red blood cells with normal hemoglobin (HbA) move easily through the bloodstream, delivering oxygen to all of the cells of the body. Normal red blood cells are shaped like doughnuts with the centers partially scooped out and are soft and flexible.
The documentary Sicko by filmmaker Michael Moore delves into the flawed American health care system and its effects on both those insured and uninsured. I decided to examine the documentary because I found the personal stories very compelling and I was continually shocked and dismayed by the facts and testimonies throughout the film. This documentary highlights just some of the many individuals who have been left behind by the current system, and it stresses the dire need for systematic changes to U.S health care. Through an examination of personal stories and health care experiences, a study of the insurance companies and managed care system, the U.S government’s role, and a comparison of the U.S system to other developed countries, Sicko
Once I let my thoughts return to the music, I knew what lie ahead of me. I tapped the nearest "big guy" on the shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling; the universal signal on the concert floor. He nodded, grabbed my foot, and pushed me on top of the crowd. Once I was up there was no turning back. Soon strong hands were surfing me towards the stage. I had the best view in the house and reveled in the moment. I was fueled by an adrenaline rush that was only heightened by the fusion of the music and the energy of the crowd.
Managed health care actually combines health care delivery with the financing of services provided. This was intended to replace conventional fee-for service plans with much more affordable quality of care to the health consumers as well as the providers who was in agreement with the restrictions. However, managed care is becoming challenged due to the growth of consumer-directed health plans, which defines employer continuations and asking employees to be more responsible within their health care decisions and cost-sharing. The Americans health care system has been changing the way their health care services are organized and delivered. As seen by the movement from traditional fee-for-service systems to managed care networks. Ranging from structured staff model HMOs to the lesser structured preferred provider organizations (PPO). Statistics show that 60 million Americans are enrolled with some type of managed care program within the response to regulatory initiatives which affect health care cost and quality. Managed care organizations are responsible for the health of their enrollees, which can be administered by a physician’s group, health system, or even a hospital. Much of the managed care financing is through a method called capitation, and the enrollees are assigned to a select primary care provider, which serves as a gatekeeper.