Health care has become extremely unaffordable for both businesses and individuals. The number of uninsured U.S. residents has grown to over 45 million people. If we had universal health care doctors wouldn’t have to worry about medical costs, only helping the patient. Another plus with universal health care is that Patients with pre-existing conditions can still get health coverage. Countries that have a universal health care system in place have a longer lifespan.
with all of its technology and high industrial development is still lacking to provide all its citizens health services. The health care system in the U.S. has major faults that affect both patients and physicians. Many Americans lack health insurance, and cannot be seen by a physician routinely. There is a shortage of physicians due to the cost of medical school and of malpractice insurance. In order to provide free education for medical students, malpractice insurance for physicians, and free health care for everyone, taxes need to be raised.
Having problems paying for primary healthcare is no longer the preserve of the poor or the unemployed, but is affecting even those with medical insurance (Shea, 2005). Fifty million Americans lack medical insurance, while another twenty five
Today, it is estimated that over 45 million Americans lack health insurance. Of those uninsured, over eighty percent are working, middle class families. The rising costs of healthcare has caused many American’s to just simply “do without”, and employers are struggling to provide adequate coverage for employees. Of those employers who are able to provide insurance, many of the plans cover only a small number of doctors visits’ a year, and fractional percentages of total prescription costs. It is no secret that the United States has a flawed health care system that needs to be changed drastically.
I knew we lived in a day where people do not really seem to care for one another, but I would have never dreamed it would have been that way in the healthcare system. Although watching Michael Moore’s film was heartbreaking, it was very well put together. His film is mainly about the American Health Care system as seen through Michael Moore’s own eyes. In the film, Moore compares the non-universal and for-profit U.S. system with public funded health care systems in Canada, United Kingdom, France and Cuba. Sicko focuses on the 250 million Americans who do not have health insurance and who have become victims of the insurance company’s fraud or being denied any kind of coverage for their medical conditions.
It is the only industrialize nation that does not provide health coverage to all of its citizens. There is widespread opposition to providing universal health care because of the substantial cost that will be added to the country’s budget that is already heavily burdened. Indeed, while this is a valid and understandable concern, every citizen in the United States has the right to quality health care coverage. The cost of health care has been on a steady rise for the past several years. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, the average cost of family insurance coverage in the United States was $13,000.00 per year in 2009.
There is a great deal of controversy over the availability of health care in the United States. The year 2008 is a presidential-election year, and nearly every candidate for the presidency also has a platform that includes health care reform. The fact that, “The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide universal access to health care and that the United States has the most expensive health care system of any industrialized nation” (Marshner) should be a wake up call to every citizens. However, The United States government guarantees our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Constitution. The right to life is as fundamental as it gets.
At times of hardship when US healthcare costs seem to be skyrocketing with no visible prospects of lowering and the entire healthcare system appears to be in shambles, there comes great hope when we hear about cities in the United States in which physicians and other healthcare professionals do their best to improve the access and reduce costs of medical care, and succeed in doing so. One may think that the United States has one united healthcare system, but in reality, it has many different ones that vary greatly from city to city. Some U.S. counties spend an average of $17,000 on a senior, while some provide the same care and treatment to a senior for an average of $6,000 (Reid). T.R. Reid’s documentary “U.S.
There would be no lines under a universal health care system in the United States because we have about a 30% oversupply of medical equipment and surgeons, whereas demand would increase about 15%. The US denies access to health care based on the ability to pay. Under a universal health care system all would access care. There would be no lines as in other industrialized countries due to the oversupply in our providers and infrastructure, and the willingness/ability of the United States to spend more on health care than other industrialized nations. Would Universal Health Care result In Government control and intrusion into Health Care resulting in loss of freedom of choice?
The Value of Affordable Healthcare The US is the only First World industrialized country without a nationwide healthcare plan. Access to affordable healthcare is a sign of a stable country that recognizes that a healthy citizenry makes good financial and moral sense. The recently passed Affordable Care Act is a start but it falls far short of what could be possible. The cost of the uninsured and underinsured on the economy of the country is enormous. According to the White House, “46 million Americans are without insurance” (p.1).